BSWN Race and Justice conference

It was such an honour to host Black South West Network’s (BSWN) first ever ‘Race and Justice’ conference, which took place on Thursday 14th September 2023 in Bristol.

The conference explored ideas and actions needed to widen Access to Justice for people living in the South West of England, particularly Black and Minoritised communities living in the region. Continue reading “BSWN Race and Justice conference”

‘Place Shaping’ the role of a front-line councillor

With fellow speakers Cllr Dave Winskill and Cllr Claire Denham

I had a great time participating in the Local Government Association’s (LGA) annual ‘Improvement Conference’, up in Nottingham, earlier this week.

Myself and fellow local councillors Dave Winskill (pictured left) from the London Borough of Haringey, and Claire Denman (pictured right) from Crawley Borough Council, were asked to talk about the role of the “front line” councillor (e.g, a ward level local councillor as opposed to a councillor in the Cabinet) and our role in “Place Shaping”, which is all about councillors helping the shape the places and communities they serve Continue reading “‘Place Shaping’ the role of a front-line councillor”

The Politics of Regeneration

The Management Committee of pressure group Compass (www.compassonline.org.uk) (of which I’m a member) is often asked to give talks to groups wishing to learn more about Compass’ work.

Last week, I went to Parliament on Compass’ behalf, to give a talk to the influential Labour Finance and Industry Group (https://www.lfig.org), who act as an internal Labour party think tank on issues linked to finance and industry and produce some superb reports on a wide range of matters.

The Labour Finance and Industry Group was keen to have a brief overview on Compass’ view of ‘The Politics of Regeneration’.

I’ve posted a noddy version of my notes below. Continue reading “The Politics of Regeneration”