Following the recent local elections in Barking and Dagenham Jon Cruddas MP had this to say:
"Last week's local elections in the Borough were good for Labour. For the second election running we secured 51 out of 51 council seats. I think this is testament to all the hard work of the past four years and the strong leadership of Liam Smith and his team. They are leading the way on many national issues. Our Labour council has built the largest amount of affordable housing in the country, the borough has delivered first class children's services and LBBD has introduced the highest living wage for all council staff at over £9 per hour.
"I would like to take this opportunity to say congratulations to all of the newly elected councillors across the borough. I'm very much looking forward to working with them all to deliver more improvements, and secure more local investment in the coming years.
"The clean sweep owed much to the quality of our new candidates as well as the experience of those standing for re-election. The organisation of the campaign was faultless, and highlighted a new approach to campaigning. Unlike previous campaigns this one was heavily set in the local community being aided greatly by the involvement of scores of new volunteers. I would like to thank all of the local residents who came out in force over the past months to help in the campaigning.
"The campaign was a real testament to people power, and I think that was one of the many factors in the turnout on the day. The candidates, who all live locally and know the problems that affect the area, were in contact with residents throughout and involving people in the political process. I'm hopeful that this new approach, involving the community at every level is a step towards mending the current disillusionment between politics and people nationally.
"The Council will face many challenges over the next few years- the scale of the cuts being handed down by the coalition government is massive- and will have to be handled with great care. All parts of the community will have to work together- just look down the road to Tower Hamlets to see what happens when they don't.
"Finally I would like to thank all the Candidates of all parties, council staff, police and residents who worked so hard to ensure the elections went so smoothly last week."
Geographically from the top of Dagenham, here is a list of wards and newly elected Councillors:
Chadwell Heath: Sade Bright, Sam Tarry and Jeff Wade Whalebone: Melanie Bartlett, Liam Smith and John White Heath: Dave Miles, Linda Reason and Dan Young Eastbrook: Edna Fergus, Mick McCarthy and Tony Ramsay Village: Margaret Mullane, Lee Waker and Phil Waker River: Peter Chand, Amardeep Singh Jamu and Eileen Keller