Bright Green’s guide to the Green London Mayoral candidates

Who will be the Greens’ candidate for London Mayor next May? Ahead of tomorrow’s hustings for the Green Party London Mayor candidates, here’s Bright Green’s guide to the six candidates standing, confirmed on Wednesday.

Every one of the more that 10,000 members of the London Green Party will be able to vote between 3rd and 30th August. The result of the selection is due to be announced on 2nd September.

The London Mayoral hustings are to take place tomorrow at 1:30 pm, details here (Green Party members only).

The candidates for London Assembly have not yet been announced, but watch this space for information when they are.

 

Jonathan Bartley

Jonathan Bartley, who convenes Lambeth Green Party, is a long-standing Green activist, rising to prominence by challenging David Cameron on the streets during the 2010 election campaign over cuts to disability benefits. As the Green Party’s Work and Pensions spokesperson, he also well known for tackling Ian Duncan Smith over suicides linked to welfare reforms. He was the Green Party’s candidate for Streatham in May’s General Election, coming fourth with 8.9% of the vote.

He has a background in politics, working the House of Commons under John Major for four years in the 1990s, and vice-chaired the AV referendum’s ‘Yes’ campaign in 2011. He also founded Ekklesia, a Christian thinktank examining the role of religion in public life.

 

Jonathan said: ‘I will deliver good jobs for young people, affordable homes for every family, stronger local economies and a transport network we can all be proud of. This is a practical, no-nonsense Green offer for a world-class city.’

‘It is an absolute scandal that there are tens of thousands of people in London using food banks to survive, that the council tax allowance has been cuts for thousands, and that there is an enormous council house waiting list. London is the fifth wealthiest city in the world – it’s not that there’s not enough money, it’s that it’s in the wrong hands.’

He also said that housing and transport would be key to his campaign.

You can find his campaign website here.

 

 

Sian Berry

Sian Berry has been a Green councillor for Camden Council since 2014, and was the London Mayor candidate in 2008—an election that saw the Greens move from seventh place to fourth place, and saw her endorsed by the Observer and the Independent, as well as groups ranging from Socialist Resistance to the Federation of Small Businesses. She has campaigned on issues including community services and social housing cuts, and has worked with various grassroots campaigns in London. She has been the former national campaigns co-ordinator and principle speaker for the Green Party of England and Wales.

Sian said: ‘London needs a new kind of politics. For too long this city has been run for the powerful and privileged, and now it is in crisis thanks to inequality, dirty air and a broken housing system.’ She said that she would work with communities, movements and campaigns to ‘create an open, tolerant city that celebrates diversity.’

As London Mayor, she said she would prioritise issues around air pollution—reducing traffic, making cycling safer, and reversing the increases in the cost of public transport—and housing—working to control rent costs, cracking down on empty properties, and making sure ‘we get the new generation of social housing we need.’

You can find her campaign website here.

 

Tom Chance

Tom Chance is the Green Party’s national spokesperson for housing and joint-coordinator of the London Green Party. For the past six years, Tom has worked at City Hall researching housing, the economy and climate change for Green Assembly Members Jenny Jones and Darren Johnson. He has also campaigned on air pollution, helping tenants resist eviction and the demolition of their council estates, and for the living wage. He stood in the recent General Election as the candidate for Lewisham West and Penge, coming third with 8.5% of the vote.

Tom said: ‘Greens working with campaigns and community groups can take London back from the speculators leaving flats empty and the developers building unaffordable homes. I will be a voice for every tenant facing rent hikes or eviction, every council estate facing demolition, and every first-time buyer fed up with being priced out by buy-to-let landlords.’

Tom has unveiled three policies to ‘take London back’: setting up a housing co-operative across London to help council tenants take control of their estate regeneration, and help other communities build affordable homes; seizing empty investor flats and renting them out on secure tenancies; and giving every Londoner a £10 stake in a new solar energy co-operative.

You can find his campaign website here.

 

Benali Hamdache

Benali has chaired both the London Green Party and London Young Greens for over year, and is the chair of the LGBTIQ Greens. He has a background in campaigning and mental health, having worked in the NHS in mental health treatment & research. He successfully led a campaign that overturned homophobic section 28 style PSHE guidance in a set of schools, as well as helping set up a charity for young people with mental health problems.

On his launch he stated, ‘I was motivated to run because of the huge unaddressed issues London faces. Youth BAME unemployment is London is monstrous, with BAME youth being around twice as likely to be unemployed as white youth. Yet Boris is simply unable to evidence clear ways he is looking to address the crisis. Indeed all indicators show that Boris is failing to deliver on creating apprenticeships and job opportunities.’

‘We also need real action on affordable housing, London’s unstable housing market has meant as a private renter I’ve had to move five times in three years. We need to start building homes and we need to address the runaway growth in luxury unaffordable housing being built only for investors.’

He stated that he was ‘proud’ of his mixed race heritage and the fact he was non-privately educated. On his youth, he said that ‘in an increasingly young city it’s time to break the mould in seeing politicians must be of a certain age.’

You can find his campaign website here.

 

Rashid Nix

From Brixton, Rashid Nix first entered politics in 1999 when he coordinated mentoring programmes for Westminster’s Race Equality Council.

Rashid has also worked to promote civic engagement and responsibility, with his 2010 political documentary ‘Why Don’t Black People Vote?’exploring low voter rates amongst the people of Brixton. He trained as a cameraman with the BBC, and coordinates the Brixton Underground Film Festival.

He stood in the recent General Election as the candidate for Dulwich and West Norwood, coming fourth with 9.4% of the vote. He also coordinated and stood for councillor in the Green Party’s Brixton election campaign in 2014, which saw the Greens come in second place.

Rashid said: ‘Green issues are universal—regardless of religion, class, colour or culture—when society or the environment fails, we’re all affected. As more people switch off from the stale, grey, political Punch and Judy show, the Greens symbolise a genuine alternative to inspire them.’

You can find his website here.

 

Caroline Russell

Caroline Russell is the sole opposition councillor on the otherwise solidly Labour Islington Council, and is the Green Party’s national spokesperson for local transport. She has also worked with walking and cycling activists and clean air campaigners. During her 30 years living in London, she has been been an artist and college lecturer, a cycle courier, a civil engineering student, a school governor, community activist and has raised a family. She stood in the recent General Election as the candidate for Islington North, coming third with 10.2% of the vote.

Caroline said: ‘If elected as the Green Party’s Mayoral candidate I will promote London as an example to the world of how economic prosperity can go hand in hand with a green revolution that radically improves the quality of the homes we live in, the streets we use and the air we breathe.’

‘These priorities demand serious innovation – but London is the most innovative city in the world. London’s dynamic economy should turn its focus to the challenge of delivering a transformation in housing, cleaner air and safer, greener less traffic dominated streets. London has the chance to be at the forefront of a worldwide revolution in green technology and social innovation, and all Londoners will benefit.’

You can find her campaign website here.