We’ve got an unusually wide set of choices for the election – with nine candidates! We and our partners at Clapham Junction Insider have contacted all the candidates we can track down, and offered them an interview – to find out who they are, what they’d do as our MP, and why you might want to vote for them – and to ask some difficult & awkward questions too. This is our summary of the candidates, with links to the interviews; we’ll keep updating this page as we interview the remaining candidates. Election day is Thursday 4th July, remember that this time you need to take Photo ID (with 22 acceptable forms of ID, including everything from 60+ London Oyster photocards to national identity cards issued by an EEA state).

Joe Taylor, Green Party (interview)

Joe and his family have lived in Battersea for six years, and they love it here! Since his daughter was born he has dedicated as much time as possible to combating climate breakdown, to secure a future for her and all young people. He agues that we need a World War II-sized mobilisation to change almost every aspect of life in Battersea and Wandsworth as well as the UK as a whole, as everything we hold dear is under threat, not on some distant timescale but in the lifetimes of most people alive today. That is why he is running in the general election for the Green Party – the only party that takes the climate crisis seriously.

Joe’s interview is here – where he also reveals an unexpected Eurovision link! You may also want to see Joe’s very active twitter & party website.

Tom Pridham, Conservatives (interview)

Tom’s a proper local, having lived in the area for ten years, first near Clapham Junction, then in Balham, and now in a flat just off Lavender Hill. He’ll be a familiar face to many of our readers, having represented the Lavender ward as a local Councillor at Wandsworth Council for two years.

His main political interests are housing (in particular making home ownership a more attainable ambition for people who are struggling to get on the housing ladder), crime (where several years on the front line as a local councillor means he’s well aware many of us feel less safe than we did a few years ago), High Streets (where he has been a vocal campaigner to reinstate the summer weekend pedestrianisation of Northcote Road), and foreign and defence policy (where the world has become a more dangerous place in the last few years and he believes it’s important to take these threats seriously). He’s very proud of the UK’s support for our Ukrainian allies and also the large number of Ukrainian refugees that have been taken in by residents in Battersea, and Wandsworth more broadly.

Tom’s interview is here, which contains a fair few surprises – including an insight to the less-glamorous-than-it-sounds life of being a wine waiter! Tom’s own website, (very active) twitter, and linkedin.

Barry Edwards, Reform UK (interview)

Barry is a Management Consultant and Chartered Environmentalist. What makes Battersea special for him is its relationship with the Thames Estuary, Battersea Park, Falcon Park, Heathbrook Park, Clapham Common, and all the other wonderful small open spaces that make it such a green constituency.

He’s standing because Labour was in power for 14 years and crashed the economy, then the Tories did the exact same, and the LibDems have worked with both Labour and Tory and nothing got any better. He feels that the only reasonable therefore rational choice is to choose something else, and that Reform has common sense and will balance society, environment and economics to find the good life for everyone no matter their nationality or culture.

Barry’s interview is here, with lots of thought about how we can tackle the housing crisis in Battersea and London – and his own website is here.

Francis Chubb, Liberal Democrats (interview)

Francis Chubb is a solicitor, an arbitrator and an accredited mediator, who set up his own law practice 15 years ago. He is also a former Army officer, has worked as a journalist in the Middle East and as a businessman in Southeast Europe and has senior not-for-profit experience as the former chair of a charitable trust.

He was prompted to stand by dismay at the direction of politics in Britain and the growing inequalities in our society: the danger of ‘Two Batterseas’ – those with and those without. He believes that it is within our grasp to push for better politics, an up-to-date democracy with stronger civil and political liberties, that will be fairer and more accountable and make us freer and more equal. He feels we need to dare to believe that we can make a difference, and that change can happen.

Francis’ interview is here. His twitter is here, the Wandsworth Liberal Democrats (who cover the Battersea, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth constituencies) website is here, and the national party website is here.

Dan Smith, Workers Party of Britain (interview)

A born and bred South Londoner, Dan was educated in Dulwich before studying dentistry at Kings College Hospital. With 24 years experience of getting things done in Healthcare, business and leadership, he wants to address the cost of living crisis and the environmental disaster posed by our sold-off utilities. He lives just off Clapham Common and knows the Battersea area well – including the advantages and challenges of living here compared to other areas of London.

Dan’s interview is here, with ideas on how nationalising more of our public utilities could help the UK economy and how to get the 30,000 long-term empty homes across London back in use; he also reveals that he’s a semi-regular correspondent with David Attenborough! His website is here, and his instagram is here.

Georgina Burford-Connole, Rejoin EU (interview)

Georgina is standing in election for the Rejoin EU party. She argues that Battersea could be the first place in the country to send a strong, critical voice to Westminster calling for the reversal of Brexit. She argues that Brexit is the driving engine behind the continued cost of living crisis we face today, and it’s going to get worse as the impact of cutting our trade links with the EU takes effect. Brexit also continues to blight our ability to travel & work beyond the UK, has destroyed the retirement plans of hundreds of thousands of Brits, and stolen the educational opportunities from our young people.

Georgina’s interview is here, where she shares thinking on a wide range of areas including on how we could do a better job of delivering new housing while also making places that people want to live in, and even how she was once killed by a cyberman as an extra on Doctor Who! She asks whether the people of Battersea really just want one more dull Labour MP who will just follow the herd in Parliament – and suggests we should vote different! The Rejoin EU party’s website is here.

Marsha de Cordova, Labour Party (no response at the time of writing)

Marsha’s our current MP; she became an MP in 2017 after three years as a Lambeth councillor, beating Battersea’s previous Conservative MP Jame Ellison with a majority of 5,668.

We haven’t yet heard back on interviewing her but will update this as and when we do. In the meantime here’s Marsha’s website, twitter and Instagram.

Ed Dampier, Social Democratic Party

The SDP describes itself as a patriotic, economically left-leaning, and culturally traditional political party, whose campaign promises include ending mass immigration, re-nationalising our railways and utilities, and making a decent home available for everyone, with more details on the Party’s website and Youtube. We know Ed himself lives in the heart of Battersea, although we haven’t managed to find out much else about him.

Jake Thomas, Independent

Jake Thomas is standing as an independent candidate. He’s a sole trader living on the Shaftesbury Estate (near Queenstown Road), with his wife and three children, who also stood as a candidate for the Brexit Party back in 2019. His policies include controlling migration, putting people before parties, resisting the rise in corporate capitalism / socialism, and not buying imported Chinese products.