Louise Alexander is a City Councillor for the Borough of Tower Hamlets. Tower Hamelts is a borough of approximately 200,000 people in 10 square mile area. It is very densely populated, and the home of some of the newest tall building commercial development in London. This is the part of London that suffered the most war damage in WWII.
Councillor Alexander is a Liberal-Democrat Party Councillor. She is in the Opposition on her Council. The Tower Hamlets Council has 51 members. There are 33 Labor councillors; 15 Liberal-Democrats; 1 Liberal-Democrat Independents; 1 Respect Party councillor; and 1 councillor from the Conservative Party.
The population of Tower Hamlets is quite racially and ethnically diverse. The largest ethnic minority group are immigrant and citizens who claim heritage in Bangladesh. In fact, Bangladeshi councillors are in the majority of the Tower Hamlets Council.
Councillor Alexander is an active blogger, and a good one too. Griff and I did our presentation for representatives of the Tower Hamlets Council and staff tonight. We had a good mix of staff and elected officials at presentation. I think this may be the first place we’ve been where we are working with a Councillor from the Opposition party in the Council. Being in the Opposition is more than being just a member of the minority party in a legislative assembly. It can affect the Councillor’s access to staff and information. It’s fundamentally different from the system I work under where I have a duty to serve all Councilmembers equally, regardless of their political tenure or affiliations.
It’s different, but it works. And it’s worked in this country for over 1,000 years.
