London Assembly Candidates Selection

Well it's that time at last when London Green Partiers get to decide who to select as their candidates for the London Assembly elections next year. These are important elections for the party which, at the last two elections, elected two Assembly members to one of the most important authorities in the country.

It's going to be a difficult choice this time round with fifteen candidates to choose from, many of whom would do justice to the list, indeed I was trying to work out who the obvious four candidates to get knocked off the bottom would be and it simply wasn't possible. It's a happy position to be in but it makes deciding how to vote very difficult.

I'll be giving my first preference to Natalie Bennett (pictured left) who is a formidable Green politician and also my girlfriend. Natalie's responsible for a large chunk of the party's policies on women and equality and has been central to Green Party Women that helped the party achieve the highest proportion of female candidates in the General Election, a national executive of over 50% women and raised the profile of equality issues more generally.

Added to that she's an incredibly hard worker breaking all sorts of records for leafleting and community meeting going as well as being ruthlessly leftwing. It's the perfect package!

Over the next week or so I'll be taking a look at some of the other candidates that I'm hoping will do well in the selection process, as well as hosting an online hustings for the Mayoral candidates. It's a difficult choice to make when faced with an STV ballot paper and an array of good candidates, so I'll see if I can make that slightly easier for everyone.

nb I wont be doing any negative campaigning so I wont be hosting any attacks on any candidates, whether or not I'm supporting them at this election. Do bear that in mind when commenting!