Battlefield Highgate: UK parties target local councils

While much of the national news is focussed this fortnight on the May 6 general election, political parties at the local council level are also setting their sights on notable targets in the boroughs surrounding Highgate.

Labour-run Haringey Council has come in for a great deal of criticism over the last few years, most notoriously over its the handling of the Baby P case. Adding salt to the wound, an Audit Commission area assessment in March 2009 rated the council's performance in the bottom four of the UK, and the worst in London. The borough has also repeatedly come under fire for its flawed parking enforcement. The Liberal Demcrats will be hoping to capitalise on what they portray as Labour's failures over four decades in the area, and take control of the council in addition to the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary seat.

Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone made this impassioned statement on YouTube last year in response to the Audit Commission's findings, and this month the Lib Dems lanched their local government manifesto for Haringey. The party pledged more funding for children's services, 24-hour police teams, and a special 'clean streets' warden to enforce litter bans and improve the environment.

Over in Islington, the council is currently run by a Liberal Democrat executive, but with 23 Labour councillors and 23 Liberal Democrats the council is under no overall control. The two parties have been sparring recently over issues such as free school meals, which Labour want to provide to all primary schoolchildren in the borough to promote healthy eating, and the Lib Dems want to limit by income. Both parties will be hoping to increase their share of the vote in Islington and take control of the council.

Having run Camden borough since 1971, Labour lost the council in 2006 and it is now also under no overall control. Camden currently has 23 Liberal Democrat councillors, 15 Labour, 12 Conservative and 3 Green (the Green councillors all being representatives of Highgate ward, Camden). The Leader of the Council is Liberal Democrat Keith Moffitt, and Conservative Cllr Andrew Marshall is Deputy Leader. Labour will be hoping to win their council seat back, and the Lib Dems and Conservatives will both be hoping to consolidate power in Camden this time around.

What are the issues that you think are key to local borough governments? Will you be voting for the same party in the local and general elections, or do you vote differently at the local level? What do you think our councillors should be doing for the Finsbury Park area? Let us know below!