Michael Jackson's death

Over the past few days the death of Michael Jackson has received saturation coverage in the media and his death is testament of the huge impact he had on the world of music over many years. He was a truly global superstar,known in every corner of the world.

Although I wasn't his biggest fan,the sales of the Thriller album are likely to remain unsurpassed for many years to come(though I thought the Bad album was even better). Michael Jackson was an extremely talented musician and still had a huge fan base, his ability to fill the O2 arena in London for 50 nights showed that he still had great pulling power, hardly any other musician or groups would've been able to sell out so many concerts. It is very sad that his life ended the way it did, but he leaves behind some great musical memories, and for me, Billie Jean is my favourite Jackson track, closely followed by Dirty Diana and I Can't Stop Loving You.

May he rest in peace.

Chris Ostrowski selected in Norwich North

My congratulations goes to Chris Ostrowski on his selection as Labour candidate in Norwich North. I know Chris from his time as an activist in Mitcham and Morden CLP, and I know what a fantastic candidate he'll make for Norwich North, and for the Labour Party. He will be a great camapaigner for the party and very hardworking. This seat will be a hard seat to hold and by-elections for the governing party are always a challenge, but in Chris our chances of winning are greatly enhanced, and I'm sure he'll fight a great campaign to ensure the seat stays in Labour hands.

Back to political blogging

Well it's been a while, and after my non-political sabbatical during my mayoral year I'm back political blogging again. Since I've been away plenty has been going on in Merton that I've been unable to comment upon, now that I'm free of those restraints I'll certainly be starting to comment again on the Tories on Merton Council and their actions. With an election now less than a year away, it promises to be a an exciting year. I will also be giving my views shortly on the national political scene, clearly we're in challenging times, the European Election results were a disaster, and as a party we've many lessons to learn in terms of the future.