• NEITHER the Labour Party nor the Tories can claim to represent Islington residents since the results of the 2016 EU referendum, when 75 per cent voted to remain in the EU.

For Islington residents, Caroline Russell and Benali Hamdache, Green Party candidates for Islington North and Islington South and Finsbury respectively, provide an exciting alternative to Labour, standing for investment in a fairer and more sustainable economy, for clean energy, clean air and for a meaningful public vote on any final Brexit deal.

These priorities must surely win support in a borough plagued by air pollution (one in four nurseries in Islington is within 150 metres of a road where the level of NO2 exceeds legal limits) and in which 11 per cent of our neighbours are EU nationals.

Benali is a disability and Remain campaigner. Caroline is a strong local champion, already working with residents as councillor for Highbury East ward since 2014, the only opposition member of Islington Council, and a member of the London Assembly.

Standing as Green Party candidate in the 2015 general election, Caroline received 10.2 per cent of the vote, coming third to the Labour Party and the Tories, and increasing the Green share of the vote by 7.5 per cent from 2010 (a bigger rise than that of any other political party).

The Greens came second to Labour in the 2014 local elections, beating the Liberal Democrats. A vote for the Greens on June 8 is a vote to oppose Brexit and push for a radically different future – one that puts fairness for people and care for the planet at the heart of decisions we make.

EMMY GIBBS
Green Party