Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats have selected two new Parliamentary Candidates: Josh Babarinde for Bethnal Green & Bow, and Andrew Cregan for Poplar & Limehouse in preparation for a snap General Election.

Josh Babarinde is the founder of Cracked It, a social enterprise based in the borough that supports young ex-offenders away from crime and towards employment. In 2019, the Evening Standard named Cracked It the Social Enterprise of the Year.

Josh said:

Tower Hamlets has among the greatest crime and anti-social behaviour challenges in London. My frontline experience working to tackle knife crime locally across multiple communities puts me in prime position to challenge Labour and the Conservatives on their community safety records.

Councillor Rabina Khan said:

Josh will make an excellent Liberal Democrat MP for Bethnal Green & Bow. His work as an award-winning social entrepreneur, his local profile, and his grassroots experience with some of the most vulnerable people in our area will make him a first-rate representative for Tower Hamlets.

Andrew Cregan served for four years as a Councillor for Island Gardens, joining the Liberal Democrats in 2017 after being dismayed over Labour’s ambiguity on Brexit. At the time he said “I have been passionately pro-European as long as I can remember but, after a three-line whip for Brexit, I cannot see Labour any longer as an unambiguously pro-Europe party”. As a Liberal Democrat Councillor, he challenged the Council on their preparedness for Brexit. He also defended important community assets, including pubs and heritage buildings, to valued institutions such as the Tower Hamlets Youth Sports Foundation and Raines Hall. Andrew is a spokesperson for the British Retail Consortium, a leading trade association at the forefront of the Brexit debate.

Andrew said:

It is a huge privilege to have been selected to represent the Liberal Democrats in Poplar & Limehouse. I have spent four years in the heart of Tower Hamlets politics, and I am eager to get residents’ voices heard in Westminster.

The appointment of Josh Babarinde for Bethnal Green & Bow and Andrew Cregan for Poplar & Limehouse comes at a time when the Liberal Democrats are enjoying record polling highs, building on the success of the party’s resounding European Parliament Election victory in London earlier this year. An Ipsos Mori poll on 19th September put the Lib Dems in the lead at 37%, ahead of Labour at 35% and the Conservatives at just 24%.