I have always been a committed campaigner, and am especially concerned at the recent loss of local amenities such as banks, buildings societies, GPs, affordable nurseries, convenience stores and post offices. I am currently supporting these local campaigns among others: The numerous Grenfell-related campaign groups in their pursuit of justice in the public housing arena and their fight for tighter regulation against combustible materials being put on high rise buildings Save South Kensington Post Office – an ongoing battle Save […]

This photo depicts a bathroom in a three-year-old flat, where the floor has collapsed. This same flat in a new development has suffered leaks through the ceiling, through the walls, around the windows, the loo flooded, the kitchen tap broke – then an unattended leak from under the bath caused the floor to collapse. While this is an extreme case, it is only uncommon because the flat is newly built. All over Kensington rented homes – social or private – […]

Unwelcome and inappropriate planning applications blight London, and particularly the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The dangers of developments driven purely by profit, which do not benefit the communities around them in any way at all, must be curtailed. In my previous role as spokesperson for Planning on the Kensington and Chelsea Labour Group, I did my best within procedural rules, to speak out for residents on unwelcome planning applications. Over the years this has ranged from arguing the […]

Having lived in North Kensington for over 30 years, I am well aware of the very variable opportunities available to young people, and how they are sadly too often missed. Those who have fallen out of work and education for whatever reason are unable to find a way out of their predicament, as the back-up is sadly lacking. There are paths to mobilising skills and intelligence that can bring out the best in our young people who are not academic. […]

In 2014, I conducted some research on inequality in Kensington and Chelsea, and discovered that the borough is ‘the most unequal borough in Britain’. I have updated this statistical work in the ensuing years. Sadly, some areas of inequality have become worse. For example, in Beaufort Place off Knightsbridge, health deprivation is almost non-existent, and in the area around Harrods, life expectancy for men is an incredible 92! However, in Golborne Ward, North Kensington, which I represent as Councillor, average […]