Claire Palmer

Nominations have now closed for the local elections. I have been formally nominated to stand in Bow East, where I live, to stand to represent Bow East residents on the Council.

I am standing with my co-candidates, Mark Walters and Phil Groves.

There are 19 candidates standing in Bow East this time: 3 candidates from Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems, Green, Respect, as well as 3 independent candidates. Sadly there is also a BNP candidate standing.

Don't forget that you have 3 votes for Council.

We have had a fantastic response on the doorstep from people who are fed up with this Labour Council, and also the Labour Government. They are seeing that the real alternative particularly in Bow is the Conservatives.

Roll on 6th May.

I have just been sent details of a great website with heritage spots and interesting things to see in East London.

Have a look at www.exploringeastlondon.co.uk

Congratulations to Zakir Khan who won on the first ballot, to become the candidate in Bethnal Green and Bow. I am obviously disappointed, but gave it my best shot. From what I've been told I gave a great speech, and a good solid performance. I want to thank Rob Hayward for the very professional way in which he chaired the event, and to the public for coming along to vote.

Zakir is going all out to win the seat, and if he works hard he has every chance. With 250 people there on the day, hopefully that is a good start for the population, and a good group behind him.

If you want to get involved in the campaign, drop us an e-mail, and come and help turn Bethnal Green and Bow blue.

... Registrations have now closed.

If you have already registered then you should be getting your letter through the post. If you don't have it by Saturday's post, then do feel free to give the hotline a call on 07842 552526.

See you on Sunday. Of course, I'd be delighted if you'd support me, but come along with an open mind and vote for the best candidate of the afternoon.

If you haven't got around to registering, then you won't be able to come along on Sunday to vote. However, you can of course get involved in the campaign. Join us for campaigning in Bow on Saturday, or drop me an e-mail and we can make sure you can get invovled in the campaign to turn BGB blue!

Thursday was due to be the hearing of the development and planning application in relation to what have been described as the 'hijab gates' at the bottom of Brick Lane. Despite the agenda showing online at lunchtime on Thursday that it was still going ahead, the contraversial application was pulled at the last moment and put back to an undetermined date.

The arches have been dogged by contraversy - since residents found out about them. Like much of Tower Hamlets planning documents, they were hidden away on the website and it was difficult to respond to the consultation.

Whatever you think of the actual gates, and their design, it is madness to spend £1.6m in a Borough with one of the most deprived communities, with many other things that the money culd be spent on.

Once again though there was a lack of consultation. Tower Hamlets Labour council tells us that there has already been extensive community engagement and consultation. However, it took the Guardian publicising the plans for most of the residents in the Borough to hear about it, and many others had not realised they had a chance to comment. Despite extending the consultation to 22nd February, the Council must now have realised that the consultation was inadequate. Or the developers were scared it wouldn't get through with its current plans, and the lack of public buy-in.

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Last night I attended the Mile End East fundraiser, which had a great attendance from across Tower Hamlets conservatives and local residents.

Ahmed, Jewel and Caroline are working hard to spread the message that it is Conservative councillors who work hard, who challenge the Council and hold this Labour administration to account. Meanwhile Labour councillors are merrily spending our money on consultants, bureaucracy and the communications they love so much.

This follows their highly successful public meeting last month where they met with local residents and gave residents a chance to quiz them on their policies and their priorities.

We were also joined by Deputy Mayor, Richard Barnes, and GLA member, Andrew Boff.

Doctor chosen as face of the NHS defects to Tories | News

This is absolutely fantastic news for Tower Hamlets conservatives - and shows just how Labour's policies have failed. Under David Cameron doctors and nurses will have less red tape and will be allowed to get on doing their jobs. I know many health professionals who will be delighted when the endless initiatives finally stop!