Candidates are battling it out for seat at City Hall

Candidates for the Enfield and Haringey seat on the London Assembly have made their pitch for your vote ahead of the City Hall elections on Thursday 6^th May.

The seat is one of 14 constituencies on the assembly, which also has eleven London-wide members, and has been held by Labour ever since the launch of the Greater London Authority in 2000. Joanne McCartney has been the City Hall representative for the two boroughs since 2004 and is standing again this time around.

There are five other candidates vying to win the seat from Labour; Dawn Barnes, for the Liberal Democrats; Frances Cairns, for Reform UK; Lee David-Sanders, for the Conservatives; Jarelle Francis, for the Green Party; and Pamela Holmes, who is standing as an independent candidate.

The Dispatch, together with sister publication Tottenham Community Press, attempted to contact every candidate to request a statement explaining their key priorities should they win election. Four responses were received, from the Labour, Conservative, Green and Lib Dem candidates.

Joanne McCartney, Labour

As we emerge from the pandemic we face a choice about what kind of city we want London to be. A vote for Labour is a vote for a fairer, greener and more prosperous city. As your assembly member I will stand up for London and our values of openness and fairness.

I have been privileged to represent Enfield and Haringey on the London Assembly and I am proud to have:

• Led work on the mayor’s £45m Young Londoners Fund, giving opportunities and positive activities to thousands of local young people;
• Supported increases to the London Living Wage, helping low-paid Londoners, as London’s living wage commissioner;
• Supported bold action to reduce toxic air pollution, improve our green spaces and tackle climate change;
• Successfully campaigned for better public transport, including the new 456 bus, upgrades to the Piccadilly Line, and fought off Tory attempts to take away free travel for our young people and older Londoners;
• Voted for budgets putting more police on our street, despite government cuts to policing, and for the building of more council homes and genuinely affordable housing.

If re-elected I promise to stand up for the people of Enfield and Haringey, and work:

• For our local communities and to champion our underfunded public services such as policing, Transport for London (TfL) and local councils;
• To tackle unemployment by supporting local businesses and retraining opportunities for local people into well-paid jobs;
• For further action on air quality and tackling the climate emergency;
• For a safer city with more opportunities for young people and more policing;
• For a fairer city – where everyone has a decent home and can afford to live well.

Vote for a better future on Thursday 6^th May. Use all your votes for Labour.

Lee David-Sanders, Conservative

I was born in Enfield and I have lived in Enfield for the last 15 years. I have been a local councillor in Enfield for seven years. My family comes from the area and throughout my career I have worked across the constituency in Cockfosters, Crouch End, Muswell Hill and Wood Green.

I want to be your next London Assembly Member and be your champion in City Hall to ensure that the mayor is investing in the area, creating new jobs and reducing inequality across both boroughs.

I will work with and challenge the mayor to tackle violent crime. We cannot continue with the levels of serious youth violence, and I will challenge the local police on their action plan to reduce this.

I campaign against the implementation of the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ). In Enfield and Haringey we have some of the poorest residents in London. The ULEZ will hit the poorest and most vulnerable and I don’t want residents to have to pay to cross the North Circular to receive treatment at North Middlesex University Hospital.

I want to ensure that the Green Belt remains protected. I want brownfield sites to be used and I will hold the mayor to account on ensuring that these are the first choice for development, seeing that greener buildings are constructed and not high-rise tower blocks.

I want to continue to promote the health benefits of walking and cycling as well as ensuring that our local public transport receives the funding it needs to make the boroughs more accessible to get around, as well as into and out of central London.

Vote for Lee David-Sanders on Thursday 6th May for a strong voice for Enfield and Haringey.

Jarelle Francis, Green Party

This is an important election for London; we are in the midst of a climate emergency and a horrendous pandemic which has claimed the lives of too many people and seen many lose their livelihoods.

The Green Party manifesto offers an ambitious and achievable set of goals to help us build back better, including:

• Creating the greenest city in the world by investing in green energy and jobs, protecting green spaces and cancelling the disastrous Silvertown Tunnel;
• Fresh thinking on housing: pushing the government to set rent controls and introducing a London Living Rent;
• Action for a safe and healthy city: setting targets to prevent violence and bring murders down to zero, investing in youth and women’s services, and setting a zero death target for road accidents by cutting speed limits and extending the ULEZ to cover the whole of London;
• Championing local high streets, supporting small businesses, a London Living Wage of £14 per hour, and trialling a Universal Basic Income in London.

In Enfield and Haringey I will oppose the new Edmonton incinerator, which would be a large emitter of greenhouse gases.

We have a plan to flatten tube and rail fares. Some of us in Haringey and Enfield are in Zone 2 and some in Zone 5, meaning we are paying vastly different amounts to travel into central London. Flattening fares would make it affordable for many more.

We currently have two Greens on the London Assembly, Sian Berry and Caroline Russell, who both have a track record of wins, including forcing Sadiq Khan to declare a climate emergency and push forward his 2050 target to 2030.

If you want Green vote Green, there’s no need for tactical voting. I will work hard to improve the area I live and grew up in.

Dawn Barnes, Lib Dems

I’m a councillor in Haringey and I live in Bounds Green. I used to live in Southgate and have shopped, socialised and travelled in both our boroughs.

I developed an excellent knowledge of the New River Path from Bowes Park to Town Park during lockdown and I now have a greater appreciation of the parks and green spaces we have locally and how important they are for our mental health and wellbeing. So, the Lib Dem pledge to ‘rewild London’ and create more parks is one I particularly welcome.

For many in our boroughs, life can be difficult. Even before the pandemic, things weren’t right. Jobs, homes, clean air; three basic needs – and we are being let down on all three.

London is at a crucial moment. With the impact of Covid-19, Brexit, and the climate emergency, we need big ideas and urgent action to rise to the challenges ahead of us.

The Luisa Porritt and Liberal Democrat plan to Take London Forward does just that. It’s an exciting vision of London that embraces change. Covid-19 has changed many things, possibly forever. We need to see these changes as an opportunity. To reinvent our local high streets; convert offices into affordable homes; and make it easier to choose greener ways to travel.

Locally, I brought 400 empty homes back into use and united Haringey councillors to support becoming a London Living Wage accredited employer.

You have three votes on 6th May, please use them to deliver a mix of parties to the assembly to hold the mayor to account.

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