Green council candidates for Queens Park, Queensbury, Tokyngton & Kensal Green

John Mansook (Queens Park)

John writes:

I have been a sports and exercise coach for over 10 years and have been involved with initiatives to improve the health of people in Brent. I have strong links in Queens Park and Kensal Rise as it has always been my local area and I was the Parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn in the 2017 General Election. I am proud to be the lead Green Party candidate for Queens Park and Kensal Rise. I am an advocate for better health in our area and I support any initiative which helps to make our community healthier.

Having worked with children and young people, I understand how important it is to have a safe community for those most vulnerable. As a self-defence instructor I understand the need for people to feel safe. I will support and fight to keep our streets safe from criminals by supporting our local police. Knife and moped crime has been a blight in and around Queens Park and Kensal Rise and I seek to address this major concern for residents.

Air pollution is on the increase in and around Queens Park and Kensal Rise. As your Green party councillor I am committed to ensuring that the state of our roads are maintained to the highest standards  and initiatives to reduce air pollution are scrutinised to ensure that the air we breathe is safe.

I support local businesses. After speaking to business owners about their concerns over how Brent council does business, I am committed to working with small businesses in Queens Park and Kensal Rise to ensure that they thrive and continue to prosper. We have and always will support local businesses that are environmentally responsible with their waste and we would push to offer incentives to businesses that are environmentally conscious and socially responsible.

Nesrin Ahmet (Queensbury)

 Nesrin has lived in Queensbury most of her life, and aspires to do the best she can for her community. She has been a Green Party member for over a year, and strongly believes in pushing for a “greener” society. She hopes that the Green Party will receive the support it deserves at the local elections, which will encourage policymakers to do more to tackle climate change and protect the environment. 

Nesrin is currently studying towards a politics degree at the University of Nottingham and has a passion for helping others. She is currently a fundraiser for the Rosie May Foundation, a charity which aims to help children at risk of abandonment. She hopes to use her compassion and skills learned to help and inspire others, which is why she thinks she would be a great councillor.

Martin Francis (Tokyngton)

Martin Francis was born in Kingsbury and has lived in Harlesden and Wembley. After reporting the London Stock Exchange for Reuters Economic Services he switched careers to teaching.  He has taught in Neasden and Wembley as well as other areas of London. Now retired he is Chair of Governors at a Wembley primary school and a trustee of the Brent Play Association. He runs the voluntary organisation Brent School Without Walls providing nature activities for primary pupils. 

Martin is a member of the National Education Union (formerly the NUT) and is on the steering group of the Anti-Academies Alliance. He is a member of the Green Party Trade Union Group.

Martin believes passionately in local democracy and provides news and scrutiny of Council policies though his blog Wembley Matters. Martin believes that the current composition of Brent Council, overwhelmingly Labour, is bad for democracy and that ineffective scrutiny by the current opposition has allowed the implementation of many poor decisions, especially over regeneration and waste services. 

Martin says:

You may not agree with everything I say but you can’t deny that effective opposition is healthy for democracy and Green councillors are the way of strengthening the accountability of this Council.  As the African proverb says, 'If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.'

Samuel Hopkins (Kensal Green)

Samuel works in the arts and creative industries and has a passion for all things Green. He has a particular interest in LGBT+ rights and affairs, and is delighted to see a strong presence from Brent Green Party at the 2018 local elections.

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Voting in Brent? Read about your Green candidates before you cast your vote

Before you vote today check out your Green candidates:

John Mansook, Hampstead & Kilburn 
Twitter: www.twitter.com/johnmansook
Email: john.mansook@greenparty.org.uk



Shaka and John were both on Kensal 2 Kilburn Radio the other week with Gemma Dempsey and if you missed it, you can listen by clicking below 

https://www.mixcloud.com/ktokradio/the-green-party-visit-park-rise/

John Mansook had a good write up in West Hampstead Life (click the image to read the full article).


Also featured in that article is Poppy, your local super activist who also deserves a big thanks! 

Listen to John Mansook at the only hustings that occured in Hampstead & Kilburn
(As ever, you can click the image to listen!) 


South Kilburn is somewhere particularly struggling with challenges inflicted by Labour 

& where John received lots of positively for our Green message. 

To read more about what residents in 2014 described as social cleansing, click here: 
http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/granville-community-kitchen-submission.html



Check out what Rashid Nix, our Green candidate for Brixton says about 'regeneration' like that which has been occurring in Kilburn & why its important we vote Green to send a strong message to local government. 
(Click the image to watch the video)



Michaela Lichten is our Brent North candidate"

and finally to share with your family & friends (click the image!) 5 snappy reasons to Vote Green 

thanks to Osman Noor, campaigns coordinator of London Green Party. 



For the latest local and political news during election day & live from the count.
Visit Wembley Matters, you'll hear the news there first from both Camden & Brent counts. 


Wembley Matters is edited by Martin Francis (An officer of Brent Greens)
http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/

H&K: No standing down without agreement on Brighton and Isle of Wight

Tulip Siddiq, Dee Searle (Chair) and John Mansook last night

Following a meeting of Brent and Camden Green parties in Kilburn on Monday 8^th May, Green Party members in Hampstead & Kilburn have voted that the prospective parliamentary candidate John Mansook will stand in the constituency in the upcoming General Election, rather than stand down and pursue a local electoral alliance. 

Brent and Camden Green parties would like to thank Labour’s incumbent Tulip Siddiq for coming to speak at the meeting, which was conducted respectfully at all times. In particular, they would like to commend her efforts to persuade Labour’s National Executive Committee to stand aside for the Greens in Brighton Pavilion and the Isle of Wight, and her voting record on key Green issues including resistance to fracking, renewal of Trident and HS2.

However, Labour’s lack of willingness to enter into electoral alliances with the Green Party in constituencies where the Greens have a better chance of winning – particularly Brighton Pavilion and the Isle of Wight – was a key factor in the vote. This followed new advice not to stand aside from the Green Party leadership unless Labour was prepared to withdraw in these constituencies. Members did add a condition that keeps an option open for standing aside in Hampstead & Kilburn if there is movement from Labour on electoral alliances nationally before a deadline of 12pm, Wednesday 10 May.

Hampstead & Kilburn Green Party candidate John Mansook said:

Any electoral alliance needs to be a true alliance, not a one way street. Sadly there hasn’t been any movement towards this from the Labour Party nationally. While we are very grateful to Tulip for coming to speak to us and advocating electoral alliances publicly in recent days, any decision to stand aside would have been very difficult knowing Labour are not likely to reciprocate. One of the Green Party’s key platforms in the upcoming campaign will be to change our unfair voting system, so that discussions like this are unnecessary and people can vote for what they believe in.

Camden Green Party co-Chair John Holmes said:

Brent and Camden Green Parties have selected an excellent local candidate in John Mansook, who is deeply connected with many of the issues facing residents of Hampstead and Kilburn. Voters deserve the option of being able to vote for him and for the Green Party’s unique policies, including a commitment to reverse privatisation in the NHS and measures that will dramatically cut Britain’s contribution to climate change. We can only deprive voters of that opportunity if Labour works with us to increase our Green voice in Parliament.

This is the resolution passed last night:

The members of the Brent and Camden Green parties living in the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency resolve:

1) To publicly thank Tulip Siddiq for meeting the parties, for the efforts she has made to secure a progressive alliance for the 2017 General Election and the undertakings she has made to work for a progressive alliance in future
2) With regret, unless the Labour Party agrees to the reasonable demands of the Green Party nationally to withdraw the Labour candidates in Brighton and the Isle of Wight by noon on Wednesday 10^th May, we will submit our nomination for John Mansook to be our candidate.
3) If an agreement is reached nationally, the election agent is instructed not to submit our candidate’s nomination.

Introducing Brent Green Party's parliamentary candidates for June's General Election

Brent Green Party has selected its candidates for the General Election giving Brent voters a chance to vote for what they believe in, fresh voices in Parliamment and a different, principled, way of doing politics.

These are our candidates:

Shaka Lish, Green Party candidate for Brent Central

Shaka Lish has been selected to challenge Dawn Butler in Brent Central:

I am a life long Brent resident, conceived in Harlesden, born in Kilburn, grew up in Queens Park and now reside in Willesden. I wasn’t always political but like many, after the Iraq war I was left with so many questions about politics in the UK. Questions like, what makes democracy work for the people, not just the powerful? Since then, I have become more engaged with issues that I am passionate about and also more informed. Since the global crash in 2008, there has been a change in the world. What appeared at first as an opportunity to change the way we are living – address climate change, inequality and neoliberalism – has actually appeared tighten the grip of disaster capitalism. There comes a time when we have to stand up to be counted and take part in effecting the change that we wish to see in this world. By standing for the Green Party I believe I am doing just that. The local, to the national, to the global, are all intimately interconnected. We begin locally but this inevitably has echoes further afield.

I have been a professional singer pursuing a career in music since leaving school and been lucky enough to make music, travel the world and share my creativity on a platform. Although I still make music, I have nurtured another passion - for social justice and for helping others. I recently became a mature student and finished an undergraduate degree in Philosophy, Politics and History and currently I am finishing an MA in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation, at SOAS. Being lucky enough to get a grant to study, I know how enriching education is, so I am adamant tuition fees should be scrapped and that we should not create barriers to knowledge through eye-watering debt. Education is a social good for all.

My undergraduate dissertation was on the subject of climate change and it has been frustrating to watch how science has led the way but unfortunately our leaders have been slow to act. My priority would be to hold the government to account and to keep campaigning for investment in green initiatives, transport and technology.

I am passionate about community, the environment, equality, the NHS, animals and education. I often feel so inspired by what could be possible, how the country can be transformed for the good of all, not just the few. I see a country where we have clean air, renewable energy, we look after our environment, we care for the vulnerable, have meaningful and secure work and where everyone gets the opportunity to thrive and fulfill their potential. I know this is possible but I also know it can only be achieved together.

My local campaign would focus around these areas –

• Put pressure on the council to make commercial recycling mandatory, not optional.
• Campaign for more local cycling hangers – and for this to feed into a more coherent transport policy.
• Push for procurement of local land for community resources such as youth activities and allotments
• Create a plan that gives locals more power to decide on their dominant energy sources and scrap any disincentives to renewables.
• Strive for any new developments in Brent to be accompanied by appropriate services to sustain the growing population of residents – such as medical care, childcare, community resources and activities. Not just shopping facilities.

The opportunity to stand as an MP is humbling as it is a service to my community. Brent is a community that has given me opportunities and support and I would be proud to stand as a Green Party representative and spread the message to make sure people know, a better world is possible.

Email: shaka.lish@greenparty.org.uk

Michaela Lichten, Green Party candidate for Brent North

 Michaela Lichten has been selected to challenge Barry Gardiner in Brent North:

I’ve been a resident of Brent for over 30 years and am passionate about the built and natural environment.

So much of society is weighted against ordinary people and with the crisis in Housing and Education worsening, new and innovative solutions need to be found to halt further inequalities.

With Brexit now triggered The Green Party can ensure we don’t stop being Europeans. I’m proud to stand for The Green Party which has long been a feminist party, with policies including improved maternity services, quotas for women on boards and working with organisations to advance women's equality and employment opportunities. I’d strive to be a good constituency MP concentrating on local issues such as housing, schools, open spaces, pollution and the provision of good quality care for the elderly that doesn’t solely rely on the, often unpaid, contribution of the families of those effected. I’d work to provide better support for carers.

There are around seven million carers in the UK with 700,000 being under 18; I’d work to ensure that young carers and young adult carers are given vital support throughout their education. Having been a carer myself, for my husband who suffers from Alzheimer’s, I identify with the many carers that are over 65 and struggling with their own health issues and who deserve better support.I believe that it’s the duty of MPs to listen to, and be reachable by, the constituents that elect them. If elected I will work to raise the concerns of Brent residents with relevant Ministers ensuring a local influence at Westminster.

email: michaela.lichten@greenparty.org.uk

tweet: @michaelalichten

John Mansook, Green Party candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn

 John Mansook has been selected by Brent and Camden Green Parties to challenge Tulip Siddiq in Hampstead and Kilburn

I have lived in Brent all my life and I am also active in my community raising awareness and giving advice to residents. I believe because of my occupational and life experience I am able to identify and communicate with younger voters in Brent. I am aware of the issues such as poor health, pollution, crime, cuts to youth services and lack of affordable housing all of which affect the quality of life of all residents in Brent especially the next generation. My daily exposure to different groups such as elderly and disabled people has allowed me to gain a deep understanding of the impact cuts to funding has had on the quality of life for the most vulnerable society. This awareness has motivated and mobilised me into action.

I am a diabetes community champion and I attend community events to raise awareness about diabetes and to educate the citizens of Brent on health and wellbeing. I have also previously volunteered in Camden working with the Leighton Project as a swim buddy which helped disabled young adults overcome their fear of water and become self- confident in water and ultimately learn how to swim. I have also volunteered in Camden on health and activity awareness days promoting health and wellbeing within the Borough.