London without a guidebook

Journalists and tourists tend to hover at Westminster with its famous Big Ben. Yet east and west, out of the spotlight, conservative social activists are reclaiming the changing face of the city with justice, compassion, and hope | Marvin Olasky

LONDON— At 1 p.m. in the west of London, near the exit of the Ladbroke Grove tube station, a Christian candidate for Parliament on the Conservative Party ticket strides past a woman in full Islamist head-to-toe dress. A realtor in what was a depressed neighborhood advertises a two-bedroom flat on sale for 350,000 pounds (about $710,000). No customers are in a shop that advertises Bailey's Irish Cream in both English and Arabic, but a line waits at the counter of U.S. Fried Chicken.

At 2 p.m. in the east of London, the leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance walks past Canning Town businesses: Amazing Grace Afro Caribbean Food, Bargain Meat Centre (featuring Fresh Halal Meat), and His Grace Hairdressing, which offers curly perms, straight perms, braids, plaits, and weaves. No patrons at the Signs and Wonders Hair Salon are in sight, but a line waits at the counter of Dallas Chicken and Ribs.