Chinese for Labour is proud to announce that our Vice-Chair Ashton McGregor is running as a prospective Labour candidate for the City and East seat on the London Assembly. The ongoing selection process to is to replace London Assembly member John Biggs, who was elected as Mayor of Tower Hamlets and will be stepping down from his City and East London seat. It's a fantastic step for the Chinese community towards greater representation in our political system.
The next step for Ash is a formal nomination from at least one of the parliamentary constituencies that comprise the City and East area (City of London, Bethnal Green & Bow, Poplar & Limehouse, East Ham, West Ham, Barking and Dagenham & Rainham). If you want to help Ash get elected as the Labour candidate for City & East then please contact Ash at [email protected] or 07703 438881. Here's more from Ash:
Dear friends,
I'm writing to introduce myself as a prospective Labour candidate for the City and East seat on the London Assembly.
The seat will become vacant next year when John Biggs steps down. John has represented us brilliantly at City Hall since it came into being 15 years ago, across policing, transport and economic development. I shall especially miss the sight of him getting under Boris' skin during Mayor's Question Time!
Making a Home in East London
I wasn't born a Londoner but - like so many people in East London - chose to become one. I made a positive choice to study, work and live in this city of opportunity: a magnet for people from hundreds of different cultures and backgrounds.
Like so many private renters I moved all around the city, finally settling in Tower Hamlets nearly two decades ago. I've lived in Whitechapel, St Katharine's, the Isle of Dogs, Bromley and Mile End and I've been privileged to represent the Labour Party as a local councillor in Limehouse. It is in Tower Hamlets where I ran Jim Fitzpatrick's successful General Election campaign, finally getting rid of the divisive George Galloway from the borough once and for all.
I love London but increasingly we see its divisions and strains; the huge gaps of wealth and opportunity rising under this Tory Government and Mayor. It's not just the poor who are being left behind. In a Labour London everyone must have a fair share in our city's success.
My Public Service
For the past fourteen years I have worked for the Metropolitan Police Service - expanding neighbourhood policing into every single ward across London, securing funding for Sexual Assault Referral Centres (including for East London at Whitechapel) and settling up the Security Programme for the Olympics, the biggest peace-time security operation this country has ever seen.
I have also worked across the NHS to tackle inequalities in health; improving access to services for young people, women, black and minority ethnic communities and those with disabilities.
Why I'm Standing
I've been lucky. Despite not having the easiest of starts in life I was able to get on with the help of an incredibly supportive family and a good comprehensive school education. This allowed me to come to London and study, to get a decent job and to settle down here. It is a travesty that too many of our children in London do not have the same life chances I've had.
Labour must be ambitious for London. A Labour London could be a place where every child has the opportunity and security to succeed, where our transport system is affordable and works, where we deal with London's housing crisis for all renters and those who want to buy, and provide a better quality of life for a growing city.
Through working in our public services and as a grassroots Labour activist and councillor, I have fought tirelessly for Labour values and for the people who depend on us to stand up for them. It would be a privilege to do so for you on the London Assembly.