The man who invented Bank Holidays

This is my great grandfather, Sir John Lubbock and a typical Victorian polymath, seen here with his sixth son. Amongst his less eccentric claims to fame was the legislation he proposed and saw through Parliament, the Bank Holidays Act of 1871. (He was also responsible for the Early Closing Act for shop workers). As I enjoy another Bank Holiday at home in Hackney, I contemplate what The Independent described in a recent article on Bank Holidays (May 27th), as a "collective form of madness". I have, so far, managed to avoid any DIY, but tomorrow, will be helping shift furniture bound for France.

As an aside, he is a 'shared' relative (also her great grandfather) with my relation Matha Lane-Fox, she of lastminute.com fame. Wonder what she's doing now.

Still idling along

A jolly stopover in Paris on the way back from Brittany. We managed to catch up with my cousin Marina in St Cloud. This is her garden which is quite amazing.

And this is the kinda welcome happy eaters get in Paris!






Preparations well advanced for THE BIG PARTY. Now thoughts turning to feeding over 100 ... Hopefully the gloomy rain will be out of the way and Alan can get moving on the garden. Looking forward to seeing many old (and young) friends!

Election defeat!

Recovering well from anticipated election defeat in Stoke Newington. I polled a respectable 448 votes which, considering no input there, wasn't bad at all! Beaten by the Greens and, of course, the usual Labour victory but got more than double the three the Tories.

Turnout the usual weedy 37% which, whilst better than the national average, still strikes me as appalling for democracy. Personally, I would like to see compulsory voting as well as proportional representation.

Nice to get to know a great bunch of Lib Dem activists, keen and committed and willing to put in the work on the ground. They've even succeeded in re-invigorating some of us vets. I still believe that local politics is an uphill struggle and will remain so unless and until more power is devolved from Central Govt (for example, £4 of every £5 spent by Hackney Council comes from Central Government giving limited scope for having much influence/impact at a local level). Far better for accountability to raise and spend a local income tax.

Election Day!

Off to do some campaigning for the party in Hackney - although not for the ward for which I'm standing (Stoke Newington Central) which isn't classed as a target ward (yet). It will be interesting to see how much of an impact the recent incompetence of the Labour Party at national level has on local politics. It's over 20 years since I was last a Councillor in Hackney (Haggerston Ward in Shoreditch) and when one Charles Clarke was a humble Chair of the Housing Committee. How the mighty have fallen!