peckhampeculiar - Tumblr blog

[peckhampeculiar]

[peckhampeculiar]

We’re trying to reach the milestone of 10 years of The Peckham Peculiar and are now 33.3% of the way there. Lots of rewards are available if you pledge a few £££! Full info here and we’ve got just over 2 weeks to go: tiny.cc/pp10years

[peckhampeculiar]

A London Transport bus driver (right) and his conductor at Peckham Bus Garage, September 1958.

[peckhampeculiar]

You can now also read the latest issue online!  

[peckhampeculiar]

Race to replace Harriet hots up

The competition to succeed Harriet Harman as the Labour party’s parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Camberwell and Peckham is hotting up with a host of contenders jostling for prime position.

Harman has represented Camberwell and Peckham since 1997, having also represented the previous constituency of Peckham since 1982. Last September she announced that she would be standing down at the next general election, precipitating something of a rush among local politicians keen to represent what was – at the last election – the 19th safest parliamentary seat in the UK.

Two contenders – Sunny Lambe and Maurice Mcleod – are now out of the race. Mcleod, a leading anti-racism campaigner who currently represents the Battersea Park ward in Wandsworth, was controversially prevented from standing as this paper was about to go to press.

Mcleod said he was “blocked by the Labour party machine”, adding: “I am deeply disappointed by this unfair decision taken behind closed doors, which denies local members the opportunity to vote for me.”

He added: “The reasons given are as frivolous as once liking a tweet by Caroline Lucas. This was plainly a factional intervention.” He ended his statement by wishing those who have made the longlist the very best.

Here is The Camberwell Clarion’s guide to the candidates still in the running.

Johnson Situ

Situ – who was interviewed in the last issue – is a senior adviser to London mayor Sadiq Khan. Before working at City Hall he served as a councillor for the Peckham ward from 2014 to 2021 and was also a cabinet member of Southwark Council for five years, helping to create 2,000 local apprenticeships as well as being a key player in Southwark’s council house-building programme. His backers include Rio Ferdinand who said:

"When Dulwich Hamlet FC were forced out of their ground, Johnson fought alongside me to bring them back to their rightful home at Champion Hill. As a councillor he stood by the club during tough times and I know that as an MP he will always stand up for his local community. I'm proud to have grown up in Peckham, and I know that Johnson, like me, is proud of Peckham, and ambitious for its future. That's why I'm backing Johnson Situ as the next MP for Camberwell and Peckham."

Marina Ahmad

Born in Bangladesh, Ahmad was raised on a south London council estate. A trained barrister who has formerly worked for the Crown Prosecution Service among other roles in the public sector, she has been the London Assembly member for Lambeth and Southwark since May 2021. She has previously stood three times unsuccessfully in the general election in the constituency of Beckenham and is currently chair of the GMB southern region race network, as well as the founder of social policy think-tank Race on the Agenda.

Evelyn Akoto

Akoto grew up on the Aylesbury Estate and is currently a councillor representing the Old Kent Road ward, as well as Southwark Council cabinet member for health and wellbeing. Akoto officially launched her campaign to succeed Harman in October and has previously stood unsuccessfully for the position of Labour candidate for Lambeth and Southwark in the London Assembly elections. The mother of three founded the Southwark Safe Spaces initiative, which provides support to domestic abuse survivors.

 Peter Babudu

Babudu attended St Thomas the Apostle secondary school in Peckham before studying PPE at the University of Oxford. He represented the Rye Lane ward on Southwark Council from 2018 until 2022, working to reduce and eliminate exclusions within local schools. He is now the assistant director of research and youth understanding for the Youth Endowment Fund, an early intervention organisation that tackles youth violence and crime.

 Miatta Fahnbulleh

Fahnbulleh has been the chief executive of the New Economics Foundation think-tank since 2017. She also previously served as the director of policy and research at the Institute for Public Policy Research and was an adviser to the former Labour party leader Ed Miliband from 2013 to 2015. She also worked in the strategy unit for then prime minister Gordon Brown during the global financial crisis of 2008. Born in Liberia, Fahnbulleh arrived in the UK with her family as refugees in 1986.

 Neeraj Patil

A doctor and A&E consultant for the NHS, Patil was previously a councillor in Lambeth and was mayor of the borough from 2010-11. He has been a governor at King’s College and St Thomas’ hospitals and plays an active part in promoting community cohesion between Indian and Pakistani communities in the UK. In the 2017 general election he stood in Putney, where he lost to then education secretary Justine Greening by 1,554 votes, achieving a 10.8% swing for Labour.

[peckhampeculiar]

Bidding to become Camberwell and Peckham’s first black MP

Johnson Situ, a former local councillor and most recently senior special advisor to the mayor of London Sadiq Khan, has announced his intention to become the Labour party’s candidate for the Camberwell and Peckham parliamentary constituency, writes Luke G Williams.

With a general election on the horizon, it is expected that the process of selecting Labour’s candidate for Camberwell and Peckham may begin within the next few months. In a Peckham Peculiar exclusive interview, Johnson revealed that he will seek to win the nomination to defend the seat held by outgoing MP Harriet Harman since 1982.

Johnson would be a local candidate through and through – he was born in King’s College Hospital and attended local schools Oliver Goldsmith and Archbishop Michael Ramsey (now Ark All Saints Academy).

The 34-year-old said that his local knowledge, experience and background is a distinct asset. “I think it’s really important that whoever the candidate is, that they understand the issues the local Camberwell and Peckham community face,” he said. 

“That’s one reason why I am putting myself forward. I grew up at the tail end of the last Conservative government, on the North Peckham Estate. While I was fortunate to have a family, a teacher and a community supporting me, far too many of my friends and neighbours weren’t as lucky. The system failed them. The Conservative government failed them.

“Two decades on and we have a Conservative government failing us once again. We need to be ambitious, because our communities simply can’t afford for us not to be. I would be a candidate and MP who does not stop working for our community. One who fights for decency, justice and fairness for our community. Better education, secure and fair-paying jobs and safer streets. I want to stand up for the local area.”

Johnson served as a local councillor between 2014 and 2021. “I’m proud of what I achieved in a range of cabinet roles,” he said of his impressive track record. “I helped create 2,000 apprentice-ships which paid the London Living Wage. I greatly expanded the number of organisations paying the London Living Wage in the borough from 50 to 100.

“In terms of transport, I lobbied to have the cycle hire scheme extended to Camberwell and Peckham, which has now been confirmed to be delivered in the coming years. I have worked with key community groups like the SE5 Forum and

Peckham Citizens, negotiated the first LGBTQ+ centre to be opened in Southwark in a decade and developed an action plan to address the gender pay gap.”

Johnson explained what his priorities would be if elected. “When I talk to people the subject that keeps coming up is the cost of living crisis. I would want to champion people’s concerns about fast-rising prices, whether for energy bills or food.

“Secondly, I believe that every child, irrespective of gender, ethnicity or background, deserves the opportunity to get ahead. I would champion the idea of an education system that supports everyone, whether they are pursuing an academic or vocational education. Crucially I would also seek to give everyone a route back into education, through a commitment to lifelong learning.”

Johnson also paid enthusiastic tribute to the MP he hopes to succeed – Harriet Harman. “Harriet is someone I have always looked up to,” he said.

“She’s always been very supportive. She’s a giant on whose shoulders we all stand. Her contribution to politics and communities in Camberwell and Peckham and on the national stage has been phenomenal.”

If Johnson succeeds in his latest political mission, he would become the first black member of parliament to represent Camberwell and Peckham.

[peckhampeculiar]

If you’ve not picked up a copy of the latest issue yet, you can now also read it online: https://issuu.com/peckhampeculiar/docs/issue_48_of_the_peckham_peculiar

[peckhampeculiar]

[peckhampeculiar]

[peckhampeculiar]

[peckhampeculiar]

[peckhampeculiar]