The Lib Dem candidate for Lewisham West and East Dulwich has said cannabis is being heavily criminalised while ‘serious violent crime’ goes unaddressed.
Josh Matthews had been asked whether stop-and-search is an effective police tactic for tackling knife crime.
He said stop-and-search was “largely misdirected”, adding that “politicians are obsessed with wasting resources, for example by heavily criminalising cannabis and laughing gas, rather than tackling serious violent crime”.
Here are the candidates’ responses in full:
Josh Matthews – Lib Dem: ‘Politicians are obsessed with wasting resources by heavily criminalising cannabis’
“Stop and search is largely misdirected, and the blame lies with Labour in London and the Conservative government nationally. Several family members were police officers, agreeing that we must restore local policing, where officers work with communities.
“But instead, politicians are obsessed with wasting resources, for example by heavily criminalising cannabis and laughing gas, rather than tackling serious violent crime.”
Callum Fowler – Green: ‘Stop and search can too often lead to abject discrimination‘
“I believe stop and search can too often lead to abject discrimination, especially for minorities and younger people. As young people are generally the victims and offenders of these sorts of crimes, I think we need proper investment in our youth social services.
“These spaces are vital for giving young people a safe space, where they can go outside of school and home.”
Ellie Reeves – Labour: ‘13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs on our streets
“We need to tackle the causes of knife crime early and systematically – Labour would deliver a national network of youth hubs and a targeted programme in every area to identify the young people most at risk. We would also put 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs on our streets”
Seat Analysis
Parts of Lewisham are sometimes described as ‘suburban’, understandable given the area’s ample green spaces and distance from central London. But you’d be mistaken to think this would entail an abundance of conservatively-minded voters. The new constituency is likely to be just as Labour-leaning as its antecedents.
As mentioned, both Lewisham and West Penge and Lewisham Deptford have been Labour seats for at least 50 years. They have now partly combined, and taken on part of East Dulwich and Peckham, to create this new seat. Given these newly-added neighbourhoods also tend to be progressively-minded, the changes are unlikely to hurt Labour’s vote share.
The most intriguing part of this race will be the battle for second place. The Conservatives tend to be the main opposition in this area, albeit hardly a formidable one. In Lewisham and West Penge, the Tories finished second in each of the last three general elections. In 2017, future mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey secured 23 per cent of the vote share, roughly 43 percentage points short of Ellie Reeves. However, the Tories lost 3.2 percentage points in 2019. The Liberal Democrats, who saw a resurgence that year, have a good chance of pipping the Conservatives to second place this time.
Lewisham West and East Dulwich shares the same concerns as other south London constituencies. Impoverished sections of the community are still struggling with the cost of living crisis. Crime, particularly gang violence, remains a prominent issue. Lewisham Council recently had to put some development sites on hold amid “challenging” economic conditions. Locals will expect the next government to have serious solutions to the housing crisis.
The Constituency’s History
Lewisham West and East Dulwich has been newly created for the 2024 general election. It combines areas from four different parliamentary constituencies; Lewisham West and Penge, Lewisham Deptford, Camberwell and Peckham and Dulwich and West Norwood. However, the bulk of the new constituency is made up of the first two.
Lewisham has a long-standing Labour history. This stems, in part, from Deptford’s importance to the local area. Sitting on the Thames, its repair yards and dockyards provided work to nearby residents and also those living further out. These working-class voters have traditionally been inclined to vote Labour.
The now-defunct Lewisham West constituency has voted Labour at every election since 1974. Lewisham-Deptford has also voted for a Labour MP at each election since it was created in 1974.
East Dulwich has now been bolted onto the new constituency, as has the area around Peckham Rye Park following the Boundary Commission’s recommendations. The change has been criticised by some local people. Among them was this year’s Green Party candidate for Peckham who described the changes as ‘madness’. She said the area around Peckham Rye was “clearly part of Peckham” but said her representations to The Boundary Commission were “ignored”.
Lewisham West and Penge 2019 election results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/-%- |
Labour | Ellie Reeves | 31,860 | 61.2 | -5.4 |
Conservative | Aisha Cuthbert | 10,317 | 19.8 | -3.2 |
Liberal Democrat | Alex Feakes | 6,260 | 12.0 | +5.8 |
Green | James Braun | 2,390 | 4.6 | +2.4 |
Brexit Party | Teixeira Hambro | 1,060 | 2.0 | NEW |
CPA | Katherine Hortense | 213 | 0.4 | -0.2 |
What are the candidates’ key pledges?
Ellie Reeves – Labour
- Set up Great British Energy – a new publicly owned clean, green, British company – giving us cheaper
- bills, energy security and climate leadership.
- Create 40,000 extra NHS appointments a week to bring down waiting times.
- Recruit 6,500 more teachers in key subjects to set children up for life, work and the future.
Josh Matthews – Liberal Democrat
- Positive politics: We should demand better. A positive politics built on freedom in a truly fair society, with real opportunity for everyone. That’s what the Liberal Democrats stand for.
- The plan we need for climate change: Detailed plans are a must for the climate and sustainability emergency. Not slogans and meaningless targets. Liberal Democrats will also continue to lead the fight against sewage dumping in our rivers and seas.
- Listening to you: I’m committed to working with local people, communities, and organisations to ask, “what do you want?” Not, “what don’t you want?”
Callum Fowler – Green
- Invest in our council homes and social housing stock, so people can afford to live in the community they grew up in.
- Increase NHS and social care funding so we can rebuild our struggling health service.
- Push for a wealth tax on the top 5% so we can afford the vital rejuvenation we need in our public services and infrastructure.