Scott Ainslie

Bright Green is offering all the candidates standing to be on the Green Party’s list for the 2024 London Assembly election the opportunity to set out why they are standing and their vision for London. This article is published as part of that series. The full series of articles can be found here.

If you are a Green Party member living in London, please look closely at the amazing and diverse list of candidates standing for the London Assembly and vote today!

As a former MEP for London and councillor for nine years, I’d like your 1st choice for the London Assembly.

I will bring razor sharp focus to the crucial issues facing Londoners and promise to deliver on four main objectives:

  1. The London Plan must put communities first. This world city must respect, value, and consider communities before developments can go ahead.
  2. More powers for Londoners. Westminster rule is not working in the best interests of Londoners.
  3. Refurbish Don’t Demolish – 40% of emissions are from the built environment, so we must only ever demolish and rebuild as a last resort.
  4. A decent and dignified life for all Londoners, including safe, warm, and dry homes; free school meals for all school children.​

By concentrating on delivering in this way, the Green Party will lead the agenda across London as we have successfully done in Lambeth, where I have been a councillor for the last nine years. We were the first London borough to declare a climate and ecological emergency and hold a Citizens’ Assembly; we have forced a total re-think on council housing; and exposed millions of pounds wasted on poor contract management – money which should have been invested in services to protect those in need.

The people of Lambeth are seeing how we work and are turning to the Green Party. In 2022, we secured 22% of the vote across the Borough in the local elections, taking votes from the Conservatives, Lib Dems, and Labour, leaving us well placed to win far more seats in 2026.

As a Lambeth councillor for almost a decade, I have the experience of dealing with one of London’s most arrogant and bloody-minded councils, who have trampled over peoples’ lives and systematically failed in their first duty of care: to protect and serve the public.

I have fought tooth and nail for Lambeth’s residents, often putting myself between those who need protecting and the authorities. For example, I occupied vulnerable people’s homes to prevent bailiffs evicting residents; I have led from the front in organising campaigns to stop demolition of council estates; I was one of the founders of Hands Off Our Common, which prevented a private takeover of public land. I have been a constant ally of the survivors of child abuse in Lambeth’s Children’s Homes. I have also successfully worked cross-party to pass the landmark motion on colonial enslavement. This led to The Green Party being the first British political party to commit to reparatory justice and helped lead to the establishment of the first ever all-party parliamentary group on Afrikan Reparations.

As Kofi Mawuli Klu and Esther Stanford-Xosei from Stop the Maangamizi, (We charge genocide and ecocide) said, “As London’s Green Party MEP, Scott, joined our African Reparations March in 2019. He listened intently to our quest for reparatory justice during our three mile walk from Brixton to Westminster. Since then, we have worked together to pass the landmark motion to get the UK to atone for, and repair the consequences of, colonial enslavement from the grassroots up. He has used his position as councillor to persuade his own party and influence Labour party members to set up the first all-party parliamentary group on Afrikan reparations.”

My mum brought up my sister and me in a council tower block. The lived experience of this has never left us. It is this humblest of starts in life that drives my quest for social, environmental, racial, and economic justice and what makes me a formidable advocate for all Londoners. It is imperative that the London Green Party gives their first choice for the London Assembly to someone from a working-class background like mine.

As London’s Green MEP, I stood up vociferously for democracy and persecuted peoples across the world and was forthright in calling out politicians with vested interests. (Full details are available here.)​

My experience, as London’s Green MEP, of negotiating at an international level and as a local councillor for nine years, with a strong track record of listening and working well with people from all sorts of backgrounds, makes me the ideal choice for the London Assembly.

For the national party, I am on the Political Committee: advising on strategy and communications for our leaders and I am on the European Liaison Group with former MEPs to maintain positive links with our European family.

I have served on many council committees, including Overview and Scrutiny, Financial, Risk and Audit, Planning and Pensions committees. I also sit on Lambeth’s Trade Union council.

London has committed to be a Net Zero Carbon city by 2030. No other party has the vision, the drive, or the strong, united and inclusive team to get there.​​ Only the Green Party does.

​As a proud member of #GreenTeam2024, I want the London Green Party to vote for me as first choice on the London Assembly List. I am a robust and successful campaigner who works well with a broad range of people, community groups and grassroots organisations to achieve positive outcomes from the bottom-up.

​Please visit my website and watch my campaign and mini-manifesto videos.

PS. We hope you enjoyed this article. Bright Green has got big plans for the future to publish many more articles like this. You can help make that happen. Please donate to Bright Green now donate to Bright Green now.

Image Credit: Scott Ainslie