A Personal Statement To The Members Of Deptford Ward Labour Party

I currently represent New Cross ward in Lewisham.  This is disappearing due to recent changes determined by the Boundary Commission.  Brenda Dacres, my co councillor for 8 years and I are seeking selection in the new Deptford ward. The process for selecting Labour candidates for Deptford begins today.  My heart felt best wishes go to my friend Brenda who has been a tremendous support to me over the years and has recently taken up the role of Deputy Mayor.  I also wish Samantha Latouche especially well.  Sam is our other co councillor in New Cross and is seeking selection in the new, New Cross Gate ward.  Although only being elected at a recent by election so has already made a big impact both locally and at the Town Hall.  My best wishes go to all other candidates seeking selection in Lewisham. 

ABOUT ME

My mum was always very proud to tell me that I was at least the fourth generation of my family to ‘come out of Deptford’, as she used to put it.  She also took great delight in telling people that the first job I ever wanted to do was to be a dustman.  This is because when we lived in a prefab in Berthon street, the dustmen used to wave to me as I swung on the gate when they drove down the street on their way to their depot on Creekside.  Some people are nostalgic about prefabs but living in one nearly killed me as ours was so cold in the winter that I contracted bronchial pneumonia and had to be rushed to hospital.  This led my parents to nearly bankrupt themselves by buying a small house in Crofton Park with the help of a mortgage from the Council.  Those were the days.

Things have moved on a bit since then for me.  I went to Stillness Road primary school, then Brockley County on Hilly Fields in the building now occupied by Prendergast school.  Then an economics degree from Cambridge, a year working for a mission organisation in Senegal, a couple of years working in banking in the City, then leaving to set up a business in Deptford High Street when I realised that that life and career wasn’t for me.  I formed a business partnership with a friend from our church and founded Revival Café and Hales Gallery in 1992, with the help of a government grant.  We wanted to do something positive to regenerate the High Street and provide a facility that would bring something good into the community.  Sadly, for us we had to relocate the business to Shoreditch in 2004 because despite out best efforts and commitment, we couldn’t make the gallery work commercially.  Some forces are bigger than you and you have to ride them or you risk being swept away.

As well as there being a Hales Gallery in Shoreditch there is also one in New York and has been for 6 years.  We have worked with artists from poorer backgrounds, BAME artists and artists from the LGBTQ+ community for many years.  The two artists that we have recently agreed to work with are transgender people. 

I have been fortunate in my life due in large part to the support of my family, the existence of the NHS, the opportunity of a state education and the chance to take advantage of Government support for business.  This together with a vision for what was possible, an optimism about the chances to making things happen and a willingness to work to achieve shared goals has helped me to succeed and to be able to help others

BEING A COUNCILLOR

Having an interesting back story and a credible record of activism and campaigning are insufficient preparation for running a billion pound organisation for the benefit of the public.  If you are privileged enough to be elected to the Council, the first thing you do is not hand your manifesto to the Officers and give them instructions on what you want them to do.  The first thing that you will be required to do is to sign a declaration that you will act, at all times and in all circumstances, in the best interests of the Council.  In other words, you are taking on an obligation to run an organisation that has a myriad of responsibilities and commitments that it is legally bound to meet.   You are not a free agent. 

Moreover, giving the impression that anyone can be a politician belittles the office.  Being a politician is a profession like any other.  To be effective you need experience and training.  When I first was elected to Lewisham Council in 1998 it was a very new and bewildering experience. I said very little during the four years of my first term.  Instead, I watched, listened and learnt the ropes.  I was fortunate enough to serve my apprenticeship under some extremely gifted, dedicated and experienced Councillors who took time to train me.  Local people rely on the Council to be well run and to deliver the services they rely on.  Thus, every Council needs a balance of Councillors.  They need a mixture of the new and the experienced.

I have been on the Council for almost 24 years.  In that time I have been:

The Chair of the Pensions Investment Committee

The Chair of the Governance Select Committee

The Chair of the Public Account Select Committee

The Chair of the Audit Panel

The Chair of the Elections Committee

The Labour Group Secretary

The Cabinet Member for Resources

The Cabinet Member for Children & Young People

I am currently the Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee and the Labour Group Treasurer.

This experience places me in a unique position as far as ensuring that the Council serves our people well.  It also means that I can provide invaluable support to both the new and the relatively inexperienced elected members of the Council.  Working hard to help others achieve their potential as servants of the public who elect them is a wonderful privilege.

MY ACHIEVEMENTS

Having set up my business in Deptford I was involved in several initiatives to try and improve the community.  I was a member of the Deptford High Street Association and then became a Board Member of Deptford City Challenge.  I concentrated on improving support for business and improving the fabric of the High Street.  I helped set up the Deptford Business Development Association which then expanded to become the Lewisham Business Association.  I came to the notice of the local Labour Party and I was approached to stand in the 1998 local elections.

1998 to 2010 was a tremendous time to be on the Council.  We had a Labour Government in Westminster and it provided money to invest.  Basic things like roads and pavements that had crumbled after 18 years of Tory rule that had starved Labour Councils of resources, were repaired and renewed.  Parks were refurbished, schools improved or rebuilt entirely.  New libraries and leisure centres were built.  Innovative approaches were pursued to improve our social housing stock.

2010 saw the end of the Labour government and ushered in the age of Austerity that continues to this day.  In 2014 I was Cabinet Member for Children & Young People.  At that time relations between the Council and the Heads of our secondary schools were at a very low ebb.  The Council was frustrated with the Heads because Lewisham had the lowest performing secondary schools in London.  The Heads were frustrated because they felt that they were being unfairly blamed and insufficiently supported.  I saw it as my primary role to rebuild trust.  I instigated an independent review of our schools that brought the Council and schools together.  It led to the establishment of the Lewisham Learning Partnership that created a platform for delivering sustained school improvement.

Although I have emphasised the need for experience to be a really effective Councillor, there are things which I managed to do as a backbencher which shows that there are always opportunities for Councillors to use such life experience and relationships that they have to make a difference.  One example is when one of my friends who is from Catford got in touch with me when he became the Admissions Tutor for a Cambridge College, in the early 2000s.  He wanted to try a get more pupils from comprehensive schools into Cambridge. Through a meeting I was able to arrange at the Council he made contact with Lewisham College.  They had a very able black female student who had come to the UK as a child.  She was encouraged to apply to his college.  When the tutors were meeting to award places they came to discuss the last available place.  The choice was between this student from Lewisham College and a pupil from Eton.  They chose the student from Lewisham College who, I understand, went on to do very well.  I also took a motion through Council with Cllr Stephen Penfold from Brockley which committed the Council to look at introducing a community skip scheme to try and address the epidemic of fly tipping that we have across the borough.

IN CONCLUSION

After 24 years on the Council my commitment to improve the lives and life chances of the people of Lewisham is stronger than it ever was.  Indeed, my recent election as Chair of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee has energised me as it demonstrated that my colleagues have trust and confidence in me.  We must all come together to work for our common goals and purpose.  We owe it to our residents to give them a message of hope and optimism about the future.  Together we can make Lewisham the best place to live, work and learn.  We must show every resident that whatever their aspirations, whatever their needs, whatever challenges they face, Labour is on their side.  This is why I am seeking your support to continue my work as a Labour councillor, this time for Deptford ward, my birthplace.

We can make a difference. We can make a change.

My very best wishes to you all. 

Paul Maslin

Further reading

If people do not know my biography, then they can read my pitch for the Mayoralty on my somewhat dormant blog:

http://themaslinmemo.blogspot.com/2017/08/update-my-story-why-i-am-running-to-be.html

If people are genuinely interested in my views and politics, you can find out a lot by looking through the other posts, most of which I wrote when I was in the Cabinet.