LONDON – British Muslim Humaira Ali is one of three candidates standing for the local elections in London Bridge & West Bermondsey, on May 3rd, with the Liberal Democrats.
“In my life, I have always been the person who has fought for the underdog. Whether it was someone being bullied at school,” she told AboutIslam.net, speaking about her motivation to run for a public office.
“Whether it was elderly people in the community who didn’t have people to come and visit them. And as I’ve got older, it’s certainly just fighting for whoever is not getting a good start in life,” she added.
Running on a Liberal Democrat ticket, the British Muslim hopes to give a voice to people in local communities.
“I’m really passionate about local communities having choices. And their choices not being determined by the central government, or by people in the private sector. I believe the best way I can help is to become a local councilor in this area,” Ali said.
Local elections in the UK take place at least every four years.
There are 418 principal councils in the UK. In 2013 there were 18,100 councilors and The Muslim News reports that at the last set of elections there were 45 new Muslim councilors.
On May 3rd, voters will elect councilors who will represent them in the local council elections.
Diversity
On the area in which Ali is seeking a position, “Southwark has a really diverse population. There are almost 330,000 people who live here. From some of the wealthiest to some of the poorest. So I hope that by being elected on May 3rd, I can make a difference.”
On her view of London, Ali shared her thoughts on different policies applied by the current mayor Sadiq Khan.
“We feel that London is a liberal place but people are having a hard time of it. If we invest in housing, if we fill up empty houses, we’ve got nearly 6,000 empty homes here. If we put £2m into policing. The houses situation will be better and the crime situation will be better,” she said.
“And we’ve got some great environmental policies as well: solar panels, electric car chargers, cycle quiet ways.”
On Europe, “Everyone knows the Liberal Democrats position on Europe. We want, that the United Kingdom have a vote on what that final deal is. We went to the polls, people as leavers, people as remainers, we did not have the facts to hand. Now that deal will be a set of facts we should be able to vote on.”
Running in 2018 is highly significant for Ali, celebrating 100 years of women participation in election after being given the right to vote.
“This year is 100 years since women (in the UK) were given the vote,” she said.
“I hope that whoever you want to vote for on May 3rd, that you will go out and use that opportunity to be part of our democracy.”