Voters' guide to Islington South and Finsbury candidates

The latest YouGov MRP poll points to a Labour victory for incumbent, Emily Thornberry.

But there are also eight other candidates running in Islington North, eager for your votes. 

To help you make your decision, we have put together a guide explaining who the candidates are and what they stand for, in their own words.

Max Jefferson Nelson – Reform UK

Islington Gazette approached Reform UK to be included, but did not receive a response.

Jake Anthony Painter – Social Democratic Party

Jake Anthony Painter – Social Democratic Party (Image: Jake Painter)

My name is Jake Painter - Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Social Democratic Party. I'm Islington born and raised, an University of Essex alumnus, and I currently work in the policy space.

If there was one primary reason as to why I'm standing, it can be found in the original Limehouse Declaration, which says "we want more, not less, radical change but with a greater stability of direction."

This founding principle of the SDP still holds true today. There are other parties that offer radical alternatives to the failed establishment, but none have the vision or direction to be anything other than a protest to the current order.

We're different. We know what's wrong in this country and how to solve the issues we face. Not enough houses being built? Let's build 100,000 social homes a year. Our utilities being pilfered by foreign oligarchs and multi-national corporations? Nationalise the lot of them. Water, energy, the railways - the full Monty. Our political system being broken? Let's introduce proportional representation to bring competition back into our political system.

You get the gist. For almost every problem, the SDP has a solution that would fix or go a long way to fixing the issues we face in this country. I'm standing so that people can have the opportunity to vote for an alternative party that is as radical as it is sensible. If you would like to discuss all things SDP further then please email me at jake.painter@sdp.org.uk.

Andrew Parry - Independent

Andrew Parry - an Independent candidate in Islington South and Finsbury (Image: Andrew Parry)

I am a retired headteacher who has lived in Islington for 20 years.  I am married with three children who all attend a state school in Islington.  I am proud to be a member of this community but our voice has not been heard and our local issues have been neglected.  Whoever gets in power next, this will not change.

The last few years have been very difficult for all of us.  Our education system is flawed, the NHS is falling apart, the cost of living crisis has made us all worse off and the impact of climate change is happening now and affecting us all.

I am standing in this election to be the voice for the people of Islington and to get our issues heard.

I want to stop the exodus of families from leaving our communities by ensuring that there is more affordable housing and fair pay; improve our environment by supporting energy independence, reducing fossil fuel usage and promoting walking and cycling in a safe environment; transform the NHS to provide the best service for all our community and ensuring our education system is the best in the world and provides life-long training for all those who want it.

It is time for change in Islington South and Finsbury.  Let’s make it happen!  visit voteandrewparry.com

Carne Ross – Green Party

Carne Ross – Green Party (Image: Islington Green Party)

I live in Islington, am a husband and a father to twins. I have worked in diplomacy and international affairs for over 30 years. I resigned from the Foreign Office over the Iraq War in 2004.

I am a writer and activist, and have worked for democratic political change all over the world, from Syria to Myanmar and the Balkans. I have been the Green Party’s spokesperson for global solidarity for the past four years.

It’s time to end politics as usual, in Islington and nationally. I want to put power in everyone’s hands, and end our ‘elective dictatorship’ where all the decisions that matter are taken by a tiny few in Westminster.

The people of Islington know their circumstances best, and they should be in charge. Their needs will be my only priority if I’m elected.

Ethan Saunders – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

Ethan Saunders – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (Image: Ethan Saunders)

Will you be glad to see the back of the Tories – but have no enthusiasm for Keir Starmer’s Labour? Do you feel let down by all the main parties on Gaza, on the Post Office scandals and infected blood, on housing, on the NHS and local services? Do you feel like nothing is working properly – and yet the rich are getting richer all the time?

We agree. Keir Starmer’s Labour will be the next government, but in Islington South and Finsbury you have a chance to tell them what you think by voting for a socialist working-class fighter instead of another career politician.

We say – fully fund the NHS and other public services. Stop and reverse privatisation.

Mass council house building. Rent control now. Don’t make workers pay for the housing crisis – reject rent and service charge increases.

Stop the slaughter in Gaza. No to war! For mass trade union action to stop arming the Israeli state.

Renationalise rail, mail, energy and steel. And other privatised utilities, under democratic workers’ control.

For real workers’ rights. For inflation pay rises. For a £15-an-hour minimum wage. Repeal the anti-trade union laws. Ban zero-hour contracts and fire and rehire.

Free education and training. Scrap tuition fees. Grants not loans – for college and university. Votes at 16.

Combat climate change. For a free-to-use, expanded, renationalised public transport system. Don’t make workers pay for the bosses’ climate crisis.

Fight for socialist change. Take the wealth off the 1%. Run society in the interests of the many not the few.

Imogen Alice Sinclair – Conservative and Unionist Party

Imogen Alice Sinclair – Conservative and Unionist Party (Image: Imogen Sinclair)

I am originally from Cheshire but moved to London ten years ago and settled for some time in Bunhill. After almost 20 years under a Labour MP, Islington South and Finsbury deserves change.

I know that residents have had enough of the Labour-run council bossing them about by imposing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and unpopular development plans. A Conservative voice in Parliament will speak up to save Finsbury Leisure Centre and other much loved community assets from the clutches of the Labour Council. 

I did not inherit my politics from my family. I am proud to come from an ordinary family of teachers, nurses and entrepreneurs who taught me virtues like hard work, courage and honesty. I believe that the fundamental associations of the family, community and nation make the individual happy, safe and free. I do not grab for state or market solutions but consider how to empower people to make decisions for themselves. This is how we can build national resilience in the face of modern and profound threats.

Terry Stacy – Liberal Democrats

Terry Stacy – Liberal Democrats (Image: Islington Liberal Democrats)

I am honoured to be chosen as candidate for Islington South and Finsbury. Our vibrant borough offers so much but suffers from deep inequality in housing, a higher crime rate than many other London boroughs and a decaying physical environment.

As a social housing tenant myself I am particularly focused on improving social housing and the lives of tenants and renters in both the social and private sectors.

We have been let down by a complacent Labour Mayor, council and MP. Having a single party in power in Islington at all levels below national government leaves little room for fresh thinking.

At a national level everything the Conservative government touches gets worse. I will campaign for Islington residents to get a better deal whether from the economy, from our NHS and schools and in improving our relations with Europe and the wider world.

I have lived in Islington for over 25 years. I grew up in care, in a children’s home and was then fostered in his teens. Although I left school without any qualifications, aged 19, I became a tenant representative on his East End estate, and played a major role in its regeneration. I was awarded an MBE in 2012 for my housing and regeneration work. A councillor for 16 years, I was leader of Islington Council when Islington built its first new council housing for 25 years.

Emily Thornberry – Labour Party

Emily Thornberry – Labour Party (Image: Parliament)

After 14 wasted years, our community has been waiting such a long time for a Labour government. What have the Conservatives been doing? They have trashed our economy, broken our NHS, and achieved nothing with their time in office. Wages have stagnated, rents and mortgage costs are through the roof, and only their friends are better off.

We need change. 

Labour has plan to fix our country – to fire up our economy, make Britain a clean energy superpower, tackle crime, save our NHS, and make work pay again. 

Voters in this election face a choice between a fresh start with Labour, or risking five more years of Tory cruelty, sleaze, and incompetence.

Last time we were in government Labour transformed Britain. We delivered record satisfaction in the NHS, introduced the minimum wage, and created a welfare system that genuinely protected people. We can get our future back – but we need your vote to be able do it.

It's an honour to have represented Islington South and Finsbury for the past nineteen years, and during that time I have always tried to speak up for residents and our progressive, inclusive values.

For the first time in 14 long years, Britain could be on the brink of a Labour government. But nothing can be taken for granted and if people want that change, they need to vote for it. Don’t rely on your neighbour to vote Labour. The power is in your hands.

Lesley Woodburn – Party of Women

Lesley Woodburn – Party of Women (Image: Lily Maynard)

I have lived in London all my adult life, leaving my native Bristol aged 18, becoming an Islington resident 30 years ago.

I currently work as a part-time carer and my background is one that is heavily focused on safeguarding those that are vulnerable; especially women and children.

Over many decades I have been involved in campaigns such as; the unsafe Youth Training Schemes in the 1980s,  the Poll Tax in the 1990s that saw the Duke of Westminster pay the same poll tax as a nurse. This millennia, I campaigned against the social cleansing and gentrification of parts of London and supported the work of Islington Survivors Network that have been instrumental in ensuring the supported payment scheme for survivors of industrial scale child abuse in all of the council’s children’s homes.

In the last six years I have become increasing concerned with ‘wokeness’ that has captured all our large businesses and institutions such as the NHS and prison service, whereby any man that claims to be a woman is allowed access to women’s safe spaces such as; prison cells, hospital wards, women’s sporting events and bathrooms/changing rooms.