THE Green Party has selected Sian Berry (1) as their candidate for next May’s London Mayoral election.
Roads campaigner Berry, aged 41, won an extremely close contest following a month-long internal selection process and a ballot of all London Green Party members.
Green Party members, journalists, and community and campaign groups from across London attended the announcement which was held at London’s West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates by Earl’s Court. The result was read out by Green Party Baroness, outgoing London Assembly Member, and former Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones.
As well as declaring the outcome of the Mayoral contest, the Green Party also announced the 11 members who were successfully selected to represent the party as Assembly candidates next May (2).
Berry said:
“For most Londoners, including me, housing is the absolute key problem to sort out, and one that might drive us away from our city altogether. Greens in City Hall are already working on ways to give people back the power to shape their own communities, estates and new building projects, and the community here in West Kensington is showing us the way forward as well.
"We must act to stop the need everyone has to put a decent roof over their heads from being exploited, and find new ways of making London truly affordable again. London belongs to all of us, and the Green campaign will work with citizens and communities all over the city to win more power for the people next May.”
In her acceptance speech, Berry announced that if elected Mayor she would seek to block the Earl's Court regeneration plans and support a resident take-over of the redevelopment of the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates.
This would be the first of many resident-led renewal schemes, after estate regeneration under Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson led to a net loss of over 8,000 social rented homes in a decade. Berry and fellow Assembly list candidates also pledged to win the balance of power on the Assembly to block the Earl's Court scheme, as Green Assembly Members did with the Thames Gateway Bridge under Ken Livingstone (3).
Baroness Jenny Jones said:
"Standing here today with residents of the West Ken estates tells you all you need to know about why I got into politics and why I joined the Green Party: to stand up for people who are unrepresented and to fight for the values of fairness, community, and equality that I hold dear.
“It’s also why I am so excited about this London election. In the nearly 16 years I have served as a member of the London Assembly I’ve seen more and more Londoners grow tired of having their city and their lives wrestled away from them and given over to private interests.
“People want change. Here at West Ken, residents have taken matters into their own hands and next May all Londoners have the opportunity to do the same, simply by voting Green and electing a party committed to giving London back to the people who live and work here.”
Speaking at the event, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said:
“We’re at a historical point where everything breaks apart and everything comes together.
“The Green Party is the solutions party – the party with the plans, the policies, to build a fair, sustainable, liveable London.”
Following a surge in membership and support, the Green Party is tipped to perform extremely well in next May’s London elections. The party already has two members on the London Assembly, Jenny Jones and Darren Johnson, and finished third in the last Mayoral contest in 2012.
Notes
1. Biography:
Sian Berry was the Green Party's candidate for London Mayor in 2008, running a successful campaign that took the Greens from 7th to 4th and winning the backing of the Independent and Observer. A former Principal Speaker, she has also served as the Party's national campaigns co-ordinator.
Sian was elected as Green councillor for Highgate in Camden in 2014. There she has won a £1 million fund to stop libraries and community centres closing, and is challenging cuts to social housing in the King's Cross redevelopment.
As a successful transport campaigner, she founded the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s, which persuaded then Mayor Ken Livingstone to introduce a higher congestion charge for the most polluting cars.
Sian's campaign for selection as Mayoral and Assembly candidate is backed by Caroline Lucas MP, Green Party deputy leader Amelia Womack and Sarah Cope, Chair of Green Party Women, among many others.
2. Assembly List:
Sian Berry
Caroline Russell
Jonathan Bartley
Noel Lynch
Shahrar Ali
Rashid Nix
Tom Chance
Benali Hamdache
Dee Searle
Andrea Carey-Fuller
Rosemary Warrington
3. The residents of the West Ken and Gibbs Green estates served notice on their council on the 11th August 2015 to transfer ownership to their own community homes company, in order to take control of the regeneration. We would support them in this endeavour, and withdraw TfL's land from the wider Earl's Court masterplan, forcing a review of the whole scheme. For more information on the residents' notice to transfer, see: https://westkengibbsgreen.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/residents-serve-right-to-transfer-notice-on-the-council/