Recovering politician (his term) Toby Harris has been canvassing for Labour on Hornsey's Campsbourne Estate:
At Wat Tyler House, I remember what that block was like when I first went there as a Council candidate in 1978 – bleak, frighteningly insecure, lifts not working and with a dismembered pigeon in the stairwell – now it is bright and welcoming. The Labour vote is clearly holding up – and no-one mentions Nick Clegg!
Is Toby right about the Labour vote? A You Gov poll for the Standard has confirmed that the Lib Dem surge is real in the capital. They're up to 22 percent, a rise of six points in the past week. That sounds low compared with the national polls but, some of the survey was conducted before the first leaders' debate. The same poll shows Labour's rating down two points to 33, and the Tories' up one to 39.
At this rate, Lynne Featherstone looks very safe and her fellow Lib Dems' prospects of taking Haringey Council from Labour surely enhanced. That said, the Labour vote in one ward proved surprisingly resilient in the aftermath of the Baby P scandal. In January, David Boothroyd predicted a "tough fight". He could still be right.
