Baker pledges to make London fairer, greener and safer following victory in London Assembly elections
Elly Baker has promised to help make London fairer, safer and greener following being elected as a London Assembly Member.
Last week’s elections to the London Assembly saw Ms Baker elected as a Londonwide Member of the London Assembly, alongside Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was elected for a historic third term.
She has thanked voters for putting their faith in her and promised to push for the delivery of promises made by Mayor Khan, including:
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Employing 1,300 more police officers
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Building 40,000 council homes by the end of the decade
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Ending rough sleeping by 2030
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Introducing baby banks to provide essentials to less well-off families
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Investing in youth clubs to create 250,000 new opportunities for young people – steering them away from gangs and crime
In Assembly Member Baker’s last term in office, she successfully campaigned against the closure of rail ticket offices. The campaign forced the Government to u-turn on their proposal to close ticket offices. The change means that passengers will still receive proper assistance at stations, have help to find the cheapest tickets and feel safer with more staff present.
On top of this, Ms Baker worked with unions, community groups and local councillors to reverse cuts to London’s bus routes following axing of TfL funding by the Government. Following the pandemic, the Government took away TfL’s operating grant, threatening bus routes across London. Assembly Member Baker protected our vital bus network.
She has championed the expansion of the bus network to include the new Superloop so Londoners can get between key suburban town centres and transport hubs faster. Assembly Member Baker campaigned for a second tranche of Superloop routes to connect more of outer London including connections to so that Romford and South Havering.
In this new term. Assembly Member Baker has pledged to push for the Government to fund upgrades to the Central line as part of a programme of capital investment to the older London Underground lines. Transport for London has been denied a multi-year funding deal like those given to other cities, and must self-fund from ticket sales and advertising. The government’s lack of funding has delayed improvements to older tube lines for more than 10 years, seeing large amounts of disruption such as older, unsafe trains being taken out of service on the Central line earlier this year.
She has promised to continue campaigning to tackle London’s housing crisis, supporting the Mayor’s plans to build 40,000 new council homes. Councils in London currently spend £90 million each month on temporary accommodation to house, for example, those leaving violent relationships or who have been made homeless. Ms Baker has supported greater provision of council housing at social rents as the only way to solve the housing crisis.
Elly Baker AM, Londonwide London Assembly Member, said:
“Under Mayor Sadiq Khan, City Hall has done a great job of protecting London from the damage the government has done to the rest of the country.
“City Hall has stepped up to make sure that Londoners are better connected than ever with the new Superloop bus routes. On top of this, I’m pleased to see that London is building again, building more new council homes than at any time since the 1970s and I will make sure that we keep this up over the next four years.
“Thank you to voters for putting their confidence in me. I will be a champion for London at City Hall. The Mayor’s plans will make London fairer, safer and better connected over the next four years and I will advocate for all Londoners to make sure this happens.”