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Raj Jethwa sets out the agenda for London ahead of the Mayoral and GLA elections next year.

Although many commentators have been quick to point out the decline in voter turnout since the mid-1960s, far fewer have discussed the role of class in this trend. The simple truth is that the decline in political participation has been most pronounced among those on the lowest incomes. More than 70 percent of those in social class AB voted in the 2005 General Election, compared to just 54 percent of those in social class DE.

This will be a major problem for Labour in the London elections. The official turnout figures for the 2001 and 2005 General Elections show that the seats with the lowest turnouts were overwhelmingly poor inner city constituencies; the ones with the highest turnouts were leafy and affluent. That also only includes turnout among registered voters. In some of the poorest neighbourhoods, up to 30 percent of adults are not on the electoral register.

The decline in voting is clearly a result of a declining belief in political efficacy among those who most need to see politics work. Voter registration and the state of Labour Party organisation on the ground will be key in the London elections. But so too will be the content of our programme. We need to show our core voters that there is a point to voting and that a vote for Labour on the London Assembly and for ken Livingstone as Mayor, will deliver the policies which are of most concern to those communities who would traditionally vote Labour. We need to ensure that people see the point of voting and bother to turnout to polling stations.

So what should that programme look like?

Crime: Fear of crime is greatest amongst the most disadvantaged communities in London. We need a Mayor and Assembly which can build on the neighbourhood policing agenda to cement closer links between the police and the communities they serve.

Transport: Despite improvements, many rail and underground stations are still poorly lit and staffed during off-peak times. We need Assembly Members who will work with Transport for London and train-operating companies to improve safety on public transport and to make stations more welcoming environments.

Unemployment: London has high unemployment relative to other regions. This is largely driven by high rates of unemployment across Inner London. Within London, there is considerable polarisation in unemployment across local areas and also between different groups within the population.

Within the labour market, some groups are far more vulnerable than others to unemployment. These include people from BME groups – particularly Black workers and those from Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups; young people, particularly young men and those from BME groups; people with health problems and those with no qualifications.

Four children out of every ten in London, and over half of all children in inner London, live in poverty. Around one in four children in London live in households where there are no adults in employment.

Health: The unemployment and overcrowding in London’s most deprived wards are strongly associated with poor health, accentuating the problems facing primary care trusts caused by pressures on the NHS budget. We need an administration in London which will work with local MPs, the London Health Commission and the Department of Health to highlight the needs of local residents and to campaign for adequate healthcare provision.

Housing: One of the most crucial issues facing the capital is the housing shortage. Next year, when we go to the polls in the London elections, we should also reflect that it will be exactly 120 years since the creation of the first form of London government in modern times – the London County Council (LCC). The LCC was seen as a major development in the administration and planning of the city’s development and one of its earliest priorities was a major programme of public housing. What is quite obvious now is that if we are to reach out to core Labour voters and ensure that we can mobilise them to vote, we need to urgently address the housing needs of the capital.

Overcrowding in London increased by 20 percent in the ten years between 1991 and
2001. One in twenty households (150,000) are now overcrowded and some ethnic minority communities are more likely to experience overcrowding than others. Bangladeshi households are over five times more likely to live in overcrowded conditions than White British households. Over half of Black African households, two-fifths of other Black households and 38 percent of Pakistani households suffer from overcrowding.

England’s ten worst local authority areas for overcrowding are all in London. In the council sector, overcrowding has increased by nearly 50 percent over this period and has now overtaken the private rented sector as the tenure with the highest rate of severe overcrowding.

Severe overcrowding increased in council housing in every London borough between 1991 and 2001. Increases in overcrowding in the housing association sector were also as high as for council housing.

Since 1992, the number of houses available from registered social landlords has increased rapidly, from 157,000 in 1992 to 299,000 in 2006.

However, the number of houses available from local authorities has fallen even more rapidly from 700,000 in 1992 to just 457,000 in 2005. In London, the overall stock of available social housing has fallen by nearly 100,000 over the last decade and a half.

And yet the Conservative Party has yet to come up with a coherent policy of its own to deal with housing. Cameron says that “the failure to provide an adequate number of homes is bananas”, while his Shadow Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, says “you cannot build your way out of a housing crisis.”

Ken Livingstone’s strategy for affordable housing will see 50,000 new affordable homes built in London over the next three years. The strategy introduces measures to increase the supply of affordable family-sized homes and will see a four-fold increase in the number of new larger homes for low cost home ownership. The strategy will also ensure that public funding is only given to new homes meeting high standards of environmental performance and will expect new larger developments to deliver additional environmental benefits, such as combined cooling, heat and power.

Far from seeing little point in voting, this policy provides clear red water between Labour and the Conservatives at next year’s London elections. More importantly, it should help Labour activists to convince traditional supporters that voting is far too important to be left to the better off.

Raj Jethwa is Ethnic Minorities Officer of the London Labour Party.