THE FULL STORY

Voting makes a difference. The elections on Thursday 2nd May will be a good place to do just that.

We’ve looked up all the candidates for the Mayor’s General London Assembly, London’s general planning body, and found out what they had to say about the genocide in Gaza.

While we don’t claim to represent them or their views nor do we seek to undermine their other local success; we want to highlight the representatives who have been vocal about bringing an end to a genocide in which over 40,000 individuals have been murdered.

To summarise, a quick search found some of their perspectives on social media. The Green Party has been most likely to call for ceasefire, followed by the socialist party. While the Lib Dems have a statement calling for ceasefire, they haven’t been doing so online. Most of the Labour, Conservative and Reform Party members have not had anything to say.

Just to recap, next week London will see an election for the mayor and the 25 members of the London Assembly representing different boroughs in London, which hold the Mayor and Mayoral advisers to account by ensuring their promises to Londoners are delivered. There will also be mayoral elections in other locations across the UK including Manchester, North Tyne and Liverpool City. Here’s how to stand up for Palestine through your vote:

1) Find out which mayoral candidate is in line with your views here.

2) Check who your local councillors/mayors are, if they are standing for election this year: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voting-and-elections

3) Look up your candidates on social media to check their stance or send them an e-mail asking if they will be representing the issues that are important to you. Or just look at the research we’ve found below on candidates’ views on Gaza.

Camden and Barnet

CLARKE, Anne – Labour and Co-operative Party

• Posted an article a week after 7th October entitled, “We must support Israel in this unprecedented moment of terror, pain and suffering.”

EMERY, Scott – Liberal Democrat

• No comment 

FORHAD, Raj – ReformUK

• Posted a tweet asking to condemn Hamas but not Israel. No mention made for ceasefire.

MARTIN, Bill – Socialist Party

• No comment 

REDMOND, Julie – Conservatives

• In March, she retweeted a tweet in support of Israel, no sign of support for Gaza, “Today marks 5 months since Israeli women and girls were taken hostage by Hamas. 19 women and girls remain in Gaza. For #IWD24, and every other day, I’m saying #BringBackOurGirl” but no mention of thousands of individual civilians murdered in Gaza.

TOKLEY, Kate – Green candidate

• No comment

Bexley and Bromley

BAPAT, Gita – Liberal Democracts

• No comment

COOK, Alan – ReformUK

• No comment

KING, Marley Cornelia – Green Party

• Retweeted messages in support of fundraisers for Palestine. “Tonight’s Community Iftar for Palestine organised by @PSCCroydon raising money for @MedicalAidPal.” Powerful to hear from speakers incl. Dr Tahseen Qureshi who shared his accounts of operating in Gaza – & how the safe house he was staying in was hit by an Israeli airstrike.”

McKenna, Kevin – Labour Party

• No comment

TURRELL, Thomas Frederick

• No comment

Brent and Harrow

AL-FULAIJ, Nida – Green Party

• From the Brent Greens blog, “Nida is a passionate believer in human rights and has joined in recent demonstrations in support of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”

BUCOVINEANUL-VOLOSENIUC, Stefan – Conservative Party Candidate

• No comment

HIRANI, Krupesh – Labour and Co-operative Party

• No comment

PRICE, Ian – ReformUK – London Deserves Better

• No comment

SINGH, Jonny – Liberal Democrat

• No comment

City and East

AUSTIN, Lois – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

• Commented in a socialist party that, “weak cowards inside the Labour Party, who would rather hold on to their Labour Party cards than stand up for the rights of Palestinians, who’ve been slaughtered by the Israeli state in their thousands, backed up by Western powers”. 

DESAI, Unmesh – Labour and Co-operative Party

• No comment

Goodman, AK – Independent

• No comment

DOWNING, Freddie – Conservative and Unionist Party

• No comment

HUDSON-SMALL, Joe – Green Party

• “First thing first, we support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Nothing can justify the thousands of innocent lives lost and the ongoing humanitarian crisis”

KENTON SANDGROUN, David – Reform UK

• No comment

THOMAS STILLMAN, Patrick – Liberal Democrats

• No comment

Croydon & Sutton

ASHLEY, April Jacqueline – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

• No comment

FIVEY, Trish – Liberal Democrat

• No comment

GARRATT, Neil Robert – Conservative and Unionist Party

• Referred to pro-Palestine marches as hate marches.

HENSON, Maddie – Labour and Co-operative Party

• No comment

NEWTON, Marian Lynn – Reform UK

• No comment

UNDERWOOD, Peter – Green Party

• Tweeted in favour of ceasefire

Ealing & Hillingdon

MICHAEL GOODWIN, Anthony – Reform UK

• No comment

HIGGINS, HENRY – Conservative and Unionist Party

• No comment

LEE, Jess – Green Party

• No comment

MAHFOUZ, Bassam – Labour Party

• No comment but previously tweeted in support of Gaza in 2014.

SINGH SEHRA, Kuldev – Liberal Democrat

• No comment

Enfield & Haringey

GRAVETT, Roger – ReformUK

• No comment

KNIGHT, Katie – Green Party

• No comment

MCCARTNEY, Joanne – Labour and Co-operative Party

• Tweeted, “Today the London Assembly passed a motion condemning the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel” – 13^th October, 2023. No comment on Palestine.

MCGILLIVRAY, Calum – Conservative and Unionist Party

• Tweets condemning Hamas. No tweets condemning Israel’s murder of 40,000 civilians.

RUSSO, Guy – Liberal Democrat

• No comment

GREENWHICH & LEWISHAM

DUVALL, Len – Labour and Co-operative Party

• No comment

MATTHEWS, Josh – Liberal Democrats

• No comment

SIMPSON, Mark George ReformUK

• No comment

TEARLE, Karin – The Green Party

• Has spoken in support of both Israeli hostages and Gazan fatalities

TERRY, Kieran – The Conservative Party Candidate

• No comment

HAVERING & REDBRIDGE

ARROWSMITH, Kim – Green Party

• Tweeted “well done to those labour MPs who defied @keir_starmer and voted to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. You did the right thing. Sadly, he didn’t.”

ASIF, Mohammed – Independent

• “The overarching issue is the Gaza issue. Thousands have marched on the street and they do not feel that current political parties represent them which is why I’m standing as an independent to be able to give voice to their concerns about the humanitarian issue and the case of genocide that’s taking place in Palestine” – April 2024.

COPPIN, Fraser Kingsley – Liberal Democrat

• Tweeted the following message, “Lib Dems position on Gaza has been principled and consistent for many months” and sent a message ‘an immediate bilateral ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.”

PRINCE, Keith Anthony – Conservative Party Candidate

• No comment

WALKER, Andy – Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts

• Tweeted the following message, “I was honored to be speaking at the meeting and mentioned I was part of a trade union campaigning against a PFI school in 1998. Labour did not represent members back then and it does not today when it does not back calls for ceasefire in Gaza.”

WILLIAMS, Guy Owen – Labour Party

• No comment

WILSON, Alex – ReformUK

• No comment

LAMBETH & SOUTHWARK

AHMAD, Marina Masuma – Labour and Co-operative Party

• No comment

BUICK, Adam John Lewis – The Socialist Party

• No comment

FRENCH, Chris – Liberal Democrat

• No comment

SHARP, Tony – ReformUK

• No comment

SHEPPARD, Claire Frances – The Green Party

• No comment

WALLACE, Christine Ann – The Conservative Party Candidate

• No comment

MERTON & WANDSWORTH

COOPER, Leonie Alison – Labour and Co-operative Party

• No comment

COX, Ellie – The Conservative Party Candidate

• No comment

MARSZALEK, Tania – ReformUK

• No comment

MASLIN, Pippa – Green Party

• Tweeted “No words seem adequate to capture the absolute horror of what is happening in Gaza. #FreePalestine #CeasefireNOW”

WIXLEY, Sue – Liberal Democrat

• Tweeted “proud that every Lib Dem MP voted for a ceasefire last night.”

NORTH EAST

BRANNIGNA, Pearce – The Conservative Party Candidate

• Tweeted “I am appalled at the attack by Hamas terrorists against Israel” in response to a Met Police tweet that said, “We are aware of a number of incidents, including those that have been shared on social media, in relation to the ongoing conflict in Israel and the border with Gaza.”

BUI, TAN – Independent

• No comment

FERNANDEZ, Antoinette – Green Party

• No comment

GLOVER, Tony – ReformUK

• No comment

JONES, Rebecca – Liberal Democrat

• No comment

MOEMA, Sem – Labour and Co-operative Party

• No comment

TAAFFE, Nancy – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

• Labour show their true colours (blue) over #Gaza, they show their colours over MORE #austerity. Previously tweeted about attending Protests to support Gaza.

SOUTH WEST

BENEDETTI, Marcela – Labour and Cooperative Party

• No comment

CHILCOTT, Steve – ReformUK

• No comment

HARDY, Abigail Dawn – Independent

• No comment

MUSHISO, Ron – Conservative Party Candidate

• No comment

ROBERTS, Gareth David – Liberal Democrat

• No comment

WARLOW, Chas – Green Party

• No comment

CENTRAL AND WEST

DEVENISH, Tony – Conservative and Unionist Party

• On 27th October, Devenish took to twitter to admonish sadiq khan for calling for ceasefire, saying “Very disappointing, @SadiqKhan. Please stick to your day job. You are not Foreign Secretary. You said the right things on Israel don’t start flip-flopping. Focus on keeping Londoners safe & running our transport.”
• On 21.12.23, he asked a question at the London Assembly, “What has been the cost of policing/managing the anti-Israel marches since 7th October 2023?”

NOBLET, Christopher – Liberal Democrats

• No comment

PATEMAN, Nicola – Reform UK

• Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Catherine Blaiklock with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit.

RAHUL SINHA, Rajiv – Green Party

• Rajiv recently retweeted a post on X saying, “HfHR stands in strong solidarity with the courageous student organizers currently setting up #Gaza solidarity encampments at universities across the United States, from #ColumbiaUniversity to #NYU to #Yale and beyond. #FreePalestine #CeasefireNow”

SMALL-EDWARDS, James Tacuma – Labour and Co-operative Party

• No comment