Green Party leader aiming for Highgate takeover in Camden Council elections
The leader of the Green Party has singled out Highgate as her party’s “number one priority” for securing seats in Camden Council elections this year.
Natalie Bennett, who is bidding to stand as the Green Party’s candidate for Holborn and St Pancras in the 2015 general election, wants to see a clean sweep of Green councillors in Highgate ward in the council elections in May.
The party has only managed the feat once in its history in Camden following Alex Goodman’s victory in a 2008 Highgate by-election to join Maya de Souza and Adrian Oliver as elected Green councillors.
Ms Bennett told the Ham&High: “The biggest aim is Highgate. We want to win the three seats we won in 2008. That is our number one priority. We have shown we can do it before, and we believe we can do it again.”
On Tuesday, the Camden Green Party was due to select its Highgate candidates to stand in May’s elections, but is yet to confirm the selections.
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Ms Bennett dismissed rumours that Cllr de Souza was preparing to stand down after eight years as a Highgate councillor.
She said: “I fully expect her to continue in her role. Maya is utterly committed to Highgate, she knows every pothole.”
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The party will field a full slate of 54 candidates in May’s elections and was due to select candidates for a number of wards identified as possible swing seats on Tuesday, namely Kentish Town, Primrose Hill, Camden Town, Cantelowes and Somers Town.
Ms Bennett added: “I think a lot of people are now thinking, with the Lib Dems sliding away, that having a strong alternative voice on the council would be a good thing.
“So in other wards we could see split votes shared between two or more political parties.
“We are going to see a lot of Lib Dem voters in Kentish Town and Cantelowes looking for a new home. This makes it a lot more volatile than it has been before.”
