2000 Citizens UK leaders meet with political candidates at a national assembly ahead of the General Election
2000 Citizens UK leaders meet with political candidates at a national assembly ahead of the General Election
Three days before the General Election, 2000 Citizens UK leaders met with Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Richard Newby, Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords and Sara Gezdari, Conservative candidate for Richmond Park, calling for responses to our Manifesto issues. Community leaders asked electoral candidates how they will work with Citizens UK, if elected, to bring about change.
We need community-led solutions to issues impacting people’s lives.
This is why thousands of community leaders from Citizens UK's 18 local alliances in England and Wales came together on 1st of July 2024 to celebrate collective power, share stories and build relationships with electoral candidates on issues that matter most to communities.
From a real Living Wage for social care workers, a fair pathway to citizenship, to safe and healthy homes, community leaders asked questions to candidates, entertained with powerful performances and came together to build community-led power. Amongst key pledges by candidates, Angela Rayner (Labour) committed to 'fight everyday' to give carers a real Living Wage.
A real Living Wage for care workers
We asked for support ensuring at least the real Living Wage for care workers. Angela Rayner (Labour) shared her own experiences as a care worker and said she will 'fight everyday' to give carers the wage they deserve.
A fair pathway to citizenship
On citizenship, we asked for support in creating a more timely, affordable and fair pathway.
Richard Newby agreed "we definitely need to improve the pathway", including "reducing the fees for a child to become a British Citizen, and reducing waiting periods".
"Even though I’ve been in the UK 17 years, and put down roots here, I’m not yet a citizen so my family and I have to pay thousands of pounds in Home Office fees. Despite having renewed our visas almost 30 times between us, my family is still stuck in the labyrinth of uncertainty and anxiety." Eddy, a Citizens UK leader.
Housing and Homelessness
"I live with my husband in temporary accommodation and for the past four years we have been moved four times across East, South, North London. My daughter asked me 'what is our next destination', is it West? Will you commit to improve the quality of temporary accommodation and make sure that families with children don't get stuck endlessly?"
"If I'm elected, I'll try very hard to remember what you said to make sure that we look after families. You have my absolute pledge that I will fight everyday to get those spaces right, get those homes built, to make sure that those landlords, regardless of who they are, give you decent homes to live in as well." Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
On housing, we asked them to work with us on making our homes safer, healthier and greener, improving the quality of temporary accommodation.
Mental Health & Votes at 16
We’re campaigning for votes at 16 and asked politicians to ensure that 16 year olds have the right to vote by the next General Election.
We're campaigning for schools-based counsellors in all schools across England so that young people can have someone who is qualified to address mental health struggles.
Racial Equity in Education
We asked for politicians to work with us for racial equity in education, including curriculum reform, teacher training and addressing inequities in the teaching workforce. Richard Newby responded: “We will be working on a reform of the curriculum which will look at the issues that you’re talking about. We see it as part of a global racial equality strategy which really brings people together to deal with the problem.”
Welcoming Refugees
Devolution & Transport
On the devolution of power for transport, we asked that the politicians work with us to shift powers to regional Mayors and then engage with communities in regional Transport Accountability structures.
We look forward to working with the next UK Government on these issues. Together, we know that everyday people can drive the changes they want to see, and our national assembly was a powerful example of this.
The next UK General Election has been called for 4th July 2024!
Our diverse teams of community leaders across the UK are ready for this—they’ve been tirelessly campaigning for the changes they want to see. Over the last few months, they’ve been busy meeting politicians across all parties and sharing their experiences on the issues that matter to them.
We know that together we can create a better, fairer society. Let’s use our democratic power to make that happen.