By: John Wight
Lee Jasper will be standing as Respect’s candidate in the Croydon North By-election, scheduled to take place at the end of November.
The By-election has been called in response to the death of Malcolm Wicks, who’d held the seat for Labour with one of the largest Labour majorities in London since the seat was created for the 1997 general election out of the previous Croydon North West and part of Croydon North East constituencies. At the last election Wicks was elected with 31. 9% of the vote, giving him a majority of 16,481.
Croydon is one of the most deprived boroughs in London, registering above national average levels of poverty, crime, and social exclusion. Child poverty is a major problem and currently stands at 4 in 10 (45%). The South London borough is ranked in the top 10% of deprived electoral wards in the UK and is home to a large Muslim, Black and Asian population.
Lee Jasper’s record as an anti-racist and community activist is unparalleled, and he carries with him a formidable track record as a campaigner that no other candidate standing could hope to match.
