Meeting with Chuka Umunna, Labour candidate for Streatham

This morning, it was my privilege to have a somewhat bleary eyed meeting with Chuka Umunna along with his assistant Joe. Chuka is Labour’s candidate for Streatham in the upcoming elections - Keith Hill is stepping down and Chuka is his replacement.

They’re both really nice guys and have a much firmer grasp than me on how the politics of a campaign like this works. They were kind enough to share some of their insights and experience with me - both of which are invaluable to us.  In the brief time we spent together I learnt a great deal.

Chuka was good enough to compliment me on the online campaign, but pointed out that many of our potential supporters are not online (not regularly at least) and therefore, unlikely to see this campaign unless it is complemented by more traditional campaigning methods.  While we were aware of this problem, apart from a few skeletal ideas, we didn’t have any firm plans (yet!) on how to address it.  

Fortunately, Chuka to the rescue!

He is (or will be) approaching small businesses around Streatham with printed material advocating bring the tube here - this should be great exposure for us, and, while I forgot to mention it to him in the meeting, I of course invite him to link to this website.  There was also some talk of pen and paper style petitions in the area, but I’ll need to come back to you later on that when the idea is developed a bit further.

We also discussed potential routes and whatnot, and he indicated that he has approached TFL about their plans and, that some early feasibility studies have been carried out in the past.  Most of the historical problem with underground railway in South London has been the soil type apparently - whilst not impossible, the clay (or sand) makes it prohibitively expensive.  My understanding is that recent technological advances in tunneling have mitigated this somewhat, but unfortunately, Chuka, like me, has neglected to subscribe to the thrill a minute publication “Today’s Tunneling”, and was unable to shed much further light on the technical details.

Chuka was very pleased that the other parties are also behind this campaign - he feels, as I do that this is an issue which isn’t divided along political lines and, was focused on the good of the community, rather than simply what he can take credit for.  This is an attitude that I find extremely laudable, particularly in light of the adversarial nature of politics.

He also mentioned that this is an issue that personally interests him as well as politically, and, recalls, even as a small child, asking his parents why we don’t have the tube here when it seems so logical to do so.  I’m guessing that a similar attitude is held by most long term residents.

He made it clear that the primary focus of this campaign needs to be to exert pressure on the Mayor of London, and, as well as, to a lesser extent, bring our plight to the focus of the national government - something Chuka is fortunately currently well placed to do.  He also indicated that he will continue to ask questions of TFL and, where possible, inform the public of their answers as well as to do what he can to continue our efforts with the Mayor.

I look forward to continuing to work with him on this.

My one regret from this morning’s meeting is that I forgot to ask him how to pronounce his name!