Siobhan Benita has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor. The election takes place in 2020 so she will be able to build on the high profile she built in 2012 when she ran as an Independent. Then, she ran a really impressive campaign and came within 8000 votes of our Brian Paddick.
Here’s her campaign video where she talks about what she wants to achieve in London:
Siobhan beat Lucy Salek, Dinesh Dhamija and Rob Blackie. It was really good to see on social media that they all had dinner together last night.
As a former senior civil servant, she has experience of making stuff work,in transport and the environment particularly so she has already proved her competence in two massive issues of concern to many Londoners.
She said:
I am delighted to have been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London.
I will show the Lib Dems can offer a fresh alternative to London’s tired two party politics.
Sadiq Khan isn’t delivering the right solutions to violent crime and only the Liberal Democrats can provide a genuinely public health approach.
The Tories have shown how out of touch they are with London’s values by selecting an illiberal, pro-Brexit candidate.
Only the Lib Dems have truly stood up for Londoners against Brexit and we will continue to be a strong, liberal voice for our city.
Vince welcomed the news:
Siobhan Benita has made a big impression in London and will be an excellent candidate to take on both Labour and the Conservatives.
I look forward to working with Siobhan in standing up for the issues that matter, not least tackling London’s knife crime crisis, the soaring cost of living and stopping this Conservative Brexit mess.
Liberal Democrats have had a string of great electoral successes right across London. Now is the time to get behind Siobhan and demand better.
UPDATE: That’s some fast work updating the London Lib Dem website!
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10 Comments
Siobhan is an impressive candidate with experience of having contested the mayoral campaign in 2016. There is a good prospect a making significant improvements on the 2016 results across the capital.
Congratulations to Siobhan on her selection. As a non London resident, I was not aware of her previous mayoral campaign – but a quick Google search reveals that when she stood an an independent candidate in 2012 (not 2016 JB), one of her main policy planks was support for a third Heathrow runway! Is that still her position? Unsurprisingly, perhaps, it’s not mentioned in her video!
She seems very impressive – excellent news! Possibly our strongest ever candidate for Mayor?
What were the voting figures for the mayoral candidates? They’re not on the London Liberal website, nor does there appear to even be a contact email address.
Caroline Pidgeon will be sorely missed as mayoral candidate. Someone who has worked at the coal face of community politics for decades and stood last time in the most difficult political circumstances imaginable.
@Ruth Bright
At least we have Caroline as top of the GLA list, so sure to be elected.
https://www.markpack.org.uk/156681/lib-dem-london-assembly-candidates/
Graham, Mark Pack has them on his blog.
Looking at the voting numbers on Mark’s website the London members turnout looks to be under 20%. A convincing win for Siobhan nevertheless.
@ David
I recall seeing Assembly Member voting figures on Mark Pack’s blog, but not the mayoral figures. I’m a little suspicious why the mayoral figures aren’t readily available, even though I did put Siobhan as my first preference.
@ David
Apologies for my last comment. I’ve now found the figures.