Author Archives: Siobhan Benita

This time next year, London will be different. We must be too.

By Siobhan Benita | Thu 7th May 2020 - 12:19 pm

This morning, Lib Dems should have been out delivering good morning leaflets, ready for the long slog through to 10pm when polls close. Instead, like all Londoners, we are staying home to save lives and the elections for our next Mayor and Assembly have been pushed back by a year.

Nobody knows what the landscape will look like in May 2021, but it’s clear that nothing will be the same. And that includes politics itself. The postponement gives us a chance to re-evaluate the London campaign. One thing is very clear – our capital is resilient and dynamic but it will be significantly different post lockdown. We must be too.

Rory Stewart has announced that he is withdrawing from the race. There’s no hiding from the fact that his presence was challenging. As our members and activists recovered from an exhausting General Election, Stewart’s energy was attractive to voters looking for an alternative.

But let’s also be clear, from drugs reform and tackling the root causes of knife crime to radical green measures like road pricing and introducing a wellbeing budget for City Hall, we had – we have – the most progressive policies. Our task, as we help London to thrive post-Covid19, is to ensure that every voter in the capital knows it.

Here are two ideas to help kickstart our revamp.