Shreya Nanda is standing for Labour in the Hillrise by-election

THE Labour candidate picked to fight the Hillrise by-election says the campaign is a chance for local members to “come back together” after the bruising battle in Islington North.

Shreya Nanda said: “We’ve got a good reception so far, although lots of people don’t know there’s a by-election.”

The vacancy in the council chamber comes after Ollie Steadman’s resignation from the role after only 69 days.

Neither Mr Steadman nor the Labour Party would offer any explanation as to why he had resigned, but his sudden decision means voters are being asked to go to polling stations for the third time in as many months.

Ms Nanda, who was born in Whittington Hospital and has lived in Islington for most of her life, told the Tribune: “From talking to people in Hillrise, the biggest issue is crime, and feeling safe in the local area. I’d be really keen to make sure the council is doing the most that we can. I’ve spoken to the council’s community safety lead [John Woolf] about what they’re doing.

“He’s really trying to shake up how the council does things, moving to 24-hour responses, making sure that people are reporting, tracking [crime] hotspots, so if there’s lots of crime in a certain area, then we make sure we send resources to there.”

Campaigners at work on Ms Nanda’s campaign

Ms Nanda, who works as an economist at the Social Market Foundation, said she also wanted to see greater investment in youth services and more housing. She set up Labour YIMBY [Yes, In My Back Yard], which campaigns for building more high-quality and affordable homes.

“Islington’s figures are good compared to other London boroughs, but there is more that needs to be done,” she said. “I’d really like to make sure we’re proactively identifying sites, and make sure we’re getting things through the pipeline as quickly as possible, because I do think sometimes it takes a ridiculous amount of time.”

While councillors are sometimes accused of using the position as a stepping stone to higher political ambitions, Ms Nanda said that wasn’t the case for her.

She told the Tribune: “I’m not just doing it as a step to something else. I know, especially after Ollie stepping down so soon, people really want somebody who is going to be around for a long time.”

The by-election on August 15 will be the first poll since Labour lost its 26,000 parliamentary majority in Islington North to Jeremy Corbyn, who beat Labour’s Praful Nargund by more than 7,000 votes.

Two independent candidates will be on the ballot paper: Alison Stoecker and Maxim Parr-Reid. Alex Nettles is standing for the Green Party, while Imogen Wall is the Lib Dem candidate.