The city of London has a big decision to make on 5th May 2016 – who will be our next Mayor of London? There are twelve candidates in the race to the City Hall of which the choice is really between the two lead candidates, Sadiq Khan of the labour party or Zac Goldsmith of the Conservative party.
Having just recovered from the General Elections, we are in the heat of yet another critical election; this time deciding the future of London. What does all this mean? So first things first, let us try to understand what the role of the Mayor of London is and what is it that we are trying to vote for?
The Mayor is like the CEO of the city of London who is being given the responsibility of “making London a better place for everyone who visits, lives or works in the city. The job of the Mayor ranges from developing policies to setting budgets, from overseeing major programmes to championing London around the world – all in line with his or her vision and in the interests of London.” Like most companies, the Mayor has a budget to plan all his policies and ensure their effective implementation. He is responsible for a budget of £17bn to be utilised to run transport, police and fire services, build affordable homes and promote London’s economy. In order to fund these basic services, the Mayor levies a part of the council tax by London councils.
Now keeping in view the above important roles and responsibilities, only the man who has London’s best interest in mind will be my next choice for Mayor of London.
For me personally, safety and security, precede all discussion around well-being and prosperity. A displaced Kashmiri Pandit, I know how life halts at the beastly hands of extremism and terrorism. A candidate who has close links with extremists will therefore never be my choice ever. More so with his human rights background! It has been 26 years since my entire community was forced to leave everything behind and flee for life. With London being on a high alert for any possible future terrorist attacks, it makes me extremely nervous that the Labour party have chosen a candidate as their Mayoral candidate?
Also, the politics of tokenism doesn’t do it for me either. Just because someone is the same skin colour as I will not qualify them to be my candidate of choice. I am a proud British Indian and London is a city I love as I live and work here. I want it to be a prosperous, happy, safe and secure place for my daughter to grow up in and I want her to build a bright future here.
A melting pot of various Nationalities, cultures, ethnicities, London brings together a unique pluralistic character that is its strength. Anyone who is propagating divisive politics and basing their campaign on religious lines is not the right choice for a vibrant city of London. The last thing I want to see happen to London is what has unfortunately become of Kashmir. I would therefore vote for Zac Goldsmith who is committed to "safer, greener, happier, more prosperous, united city".
