Bell Ribeiro-Addy is the left choice in a shortlist that also includes two senior councillors from centrist-run Lambeth
Hustings and the vote for Labour’s candidate to replace defector Chuka Umunna in Streatham take place a week from tomorrow – and see a local left-wing woman compete with two Lambeth councillors for selection to represent Labour members who until February were saddled with right-winger Chuka Umunna.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who has lived in Streatham all her life apart from university and who grew up on a local working-class estate, faces two representatives of Lambeth council.
Lambeth council has been criticised for selling off and failing to replace council homes, evicting tenants, signing up to expensive PFI schemes and, over a number of years, for a lack of transparency over housing estate ‘regeneration’ schemes.
Jennifer Brathwaite is deputy leader of Lambeth council and stood for Labour in Croydon South in 2017, having served under Croydon North MP and former Progress vice-chair Steve Reed when he was Lambeth leader.
Opera-loving Marcia Cameron is a Lambeth council veteran who sits on a number of council committees.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy has issued a campaign email and video in support of her candidacy. The email outlines:
Dear Friend,
I’m Bell, and I’m standing to be your Labour parliamentary candidate in Streatham. I was born and raised in Brixton Hill and I am indebted to my community for shaping me for the better. I am a Black working-class woman, Christian and lifelong Socialist. I stand on a platform that embodies the values of our community and our party. I do not expect any thanks or praise for it from the likes of The Daily Mail.
The Tories and their enablers the Lib Dems have failed the people of Streatham. They have failed to keep us safe, they have failed in educating our children, they have failed to give young people the opportunity to own or rent their own home without falling into debt. They are failing to give safety and security to our senior citizens and they are failing the future of the planet. Their callous cuts offer no hope, no answer locally or nationally.
In the midst of all of this, we do not have a strong Labour MP standing up for us in Parliament. Streatham deserves better.
With a general election looming you can be part of making the difference.
Your support is vital - come to the selection meeting to decide your Labour candidate:
12:45pm, 2nd November
Memon Centre, 3 Weir Rd
Balham SW12 0LTWhilst the government squanders hundreds of millions of pounds on Brexit propaganda, the most vulnerable in our community are told there’s no more money left. Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster for our country and only a vote for Labour will guarantee that the option to Remain is put back to the people in a second referendum. I will be campaigning to Remain.
It’s not enough to resist Boris Johnson’s programme – we need to push back against it, with a programme that finally redirects resources and power from the elites back to ordinary people.
That means ending the appalling and unnecessary cruelty of austerity. It means saving our planet with a Green New Deal that turns the economy around with massive investment in clean energy, transport and well-paid, unionised jobs. It means a second Brexit referendum and campaigning strongly for Remain. It means standing up for and with all migrants, wherever they’re from: because migrants never cut anyone’s wages – unscrupulous bosses did.
It means opposing inadequate social housing and embarking on a program of building hundreds of thousands of high-quality council houses and rent controls, lifting our communities. It means clearly opposing the closure of children’s centres, as has happened here in Lambeth.
As Diane Abbott’s chief of staff, I walk into work every day and oppose the Tory cuts and champion investment for the people. I’m proud to have been able to help expose the appalling Windrush scandal, forcing the Home Secretary to resign. But more than that, I’m proud to be a life-long socialist, an active trade union member and a black working-class woman from Streatham. In the face of hate and bullying, there’s no space for half-measures. We all have to stand together. It’s time we had a Labour candidate that will work hard for a Corbyn led Labour government and a Labour MP in Streatham for the many, not the few.
As Streatham Constituency Party Labour members, this is YOUR chance to choose your next Labour MP. If elected my promise is that, Streatham will have an advocate in Parliament that listens and respects all constituents, works tirelessly for them, and never forgets who sent her there and why.
In Solidarity
Bell Ribeiro-Addy
bell4streatham.com
A comment issued by some of Streatham’s young Labour members reads:
The candidate selected by the organised left-wing – and endorsed by Momentum, Unite and various other affiliated unions – is Bell Ribeiro-Addy.
A lifelong Streatham resident, a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn and a local activist and community builder, Bell stands in marked contrast to the other two candidates, who have held positions as Lambeth councillors, and who have done nothing to fight the austerity nor the undemocratic manoeuvrings used to keep the local party under the control of a Blairite clique.
These selections could be a turning point in Streatham and the PLP as a whole. The most exciting Labour Party conference in years has just taken place, producing radical, progressive policies.
A Streatham member told the SKWAWKBOX:
We just can’t afford to end up with another austerity-implementing Chuka clone and there’s a real risk of that. Bell has a consistent track record of fighting for Jeremy Corbyn and his team and we need every Labour member in Streatham to come to the vote on Saturday and vote for her.
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A Momentum endorsed or an Opera loving candidate, but at least they’re all women & one of them is black London based Remainer. How more qualified can you be?
Make us proud Steatham.
* Streatham *
Bel compered the Socialist Campaign Group Rally at Conference. After seeing/listening to her, I wouldn’t hesitate to vote for her. She would make a great MP