Councillor
Caroline Russell
AM
Russell speaking at "Pedal on Parliament" in October 2018
Leader of the Greens in the London Assembly
Assumed office
19 October 2018
Preceded bySiân Berry
Member of the London Assembly for Londonwide
Assumed office
6 May 2016
Councillor for Islington London Borough Council
Assumed office
22 May 2014
WardHighbury
Preceded byJohn Gilbert
Personal details
Born (1962-08-10) 10 August 1962
Political partyGreen Party of England and Wales
Spouse
​
(m. 1989)​
Children3
Alma materGoldsmiths, University of London
City University London
OccupationPolitician, activist
WebsiteOfficial website

Caroline Russell (born 10 August 1962) is a British politician and activist serving as Leader of the Green Party in the London Assembly since October 2018, and a Member of the London Assembly (AM) for Londonwide since May 2016.[1]

Early life and education

Caroline Russell was born on 10 August 1962.[2] She studied fine art at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University College, Oxford, and at Goldsmiths, University of London, graduating with a Master of Arts (MA) degree.[3] She subsequently studied civil engineering at City, University of London, graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) degree, and first moved to Islington in 1986.[4]

Political career

Russell became engaged in politics after the death of a young child in a traffic incident near where she lived.[5] In 2012, Russell was serving as local transport spokesperson for the Green Party of England and Wales.[6][7]

Russell was elected as a councillor for Highbury East on Islington council in the May 2014 election by a margin of eight votes.[8] She was the only member of the council not representing the Labour Party and so was the only opposition member.[4] In October 2014, she called for Holloway Road to have a speed limit of 20 mph, a road controlled by Transport for London which had not been affected by Islington council's earlier 20 mph limit on all roads they controlled.[9] In December of the same year, she criticised as "authoritarian" a Labour councillor's comments that cannabis users should not be allowed to live in council housing.[10]

Russell stood for election in the 2015 general election for the Islington North constituency. The Labour candidate Jeremy Corbyn won, with Russell coming in third place with 5,043 votes and a voteshare of 10.2%.[11] She was elected as a London-wide Member of the London Assembly in 2016, having been the second candidate on the Green Party list.[12][13] In October 2018, she condemned the Labour mayor of London Sadiq Khan over plans for the Silvertown Tunnel, a new road tunnel under the Thames that she said would "lead to more pollution and congestion".[14] She again contested the Islington North constituency in the 2017 general election, this time coming fourth with 2,229 votes constituting 4.1% of votes cast.[11] In December 2017, she promoted and participated in a "human barrier" demonstration in favour of safer bike lanes.[15] Russell was re-elected as an Islington councillor in the 2018 election. In July 2018, she called for Khan to reduce speed limits to 20 mph in outer London as well as inner London.[16] In August 2018, she was chair of the environemtnal committee on the London Assembly.[17] In December of the same year, she successfully proposed a motion at the London Assembly that brought forward the city's target to be carbon neutral from 2050 to 2030.[18]

In April 2019, a report Russell commissioned into the impact of the climate crisis on London was released.[19][20] In the following month, Transport for London suspended advertising from a list of countries with poor human rights records after Russell raised the issue.[21] In August 2019, she was arrested at a protest against the prorogation of Parliament.[22] In September of the same year, after flooding in London underground stations, she highlighted findings of her report from earlier in the year that 23 underground stations were vulnerable to flooding.[23] She stood in the 2019 United Kingdom general election, again for Islington North, and came in 4th place with 4,326 votes making up 8.0% of the overall vote.[24] Russell was the second candidate on the Green Party list for the 2021 London Assembly election, which had been scheduled for 2020 before being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She won re-election.[25]

Personal life

In 1989, Russell married Roly Keating.[26][27] They have three children: one son and two daughters.[27] Since her husband's knighthood, she may be legally referred to as Caroline Russell, Lady Keating.

References

  1. ↑ "London Elections 2016". BBC News. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  2. ↑ "Caroline Russell - Candidate for Greater London assembly in Greater London Assembly elections". Democracy Club. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "Caroline Russell – Islington North". Islington Green Party. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  4. 1 2 Morris, James (4 October 2016). "Caroline Russell: Life of a sole Green councillor in Labour land of Jeremy Corbyn". Islington Gazette. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "So you want to be a climate campaigner? Here's how". The Guardian. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  6. ↑ "Shoppers refuse to show boarding cards as VAT revolt grows". The Independent. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  7. ↑ Britcher, Chris. "Green Party hits out at 'short-sighted and flawed' lower Thames crossing plans for Gravesend". Kent on Sunday. Simon Irwin. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Morris, James (9 February 2018). "Fair game or one-party state? Battle lines drawn as Labour – and Jeremy Corbyn – target Greens in Highbury East". Islington Gazette. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  9. ↑ Tchernookova, Alice (28 October 2014). "Greens call for 20mph limit on Holloway Road". Islington Now. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  10. ↑ Brigstock-Barron, Rory (11 December 2014). "'Cannabis smokers should not be housed' says Islington councillor". Islington Gazette. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  11. 1 2 Morris, James (9 June 2017). "General Election 2017: Losing Green, Tory and Liberal Democrat candidates target Islington Council". Islington Gazette. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "Greens' Natalie Bennett defends leadership after elections". BBC News. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "London Election 2016: Labour dominate Assembly and mayor votes". BBC News. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "Green groups accuse Sadiq Khan of betrayal over east London tunnel". The Guardian. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  15. ↑ "Campaigners line London route to promote bike lane safety". BBC News. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  16. ↑ "Plans to impose 20mph speed limit in central London criticised". Enfield Independent. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  17. ↑ "Too dirty to breathe: can London clean up its toxic air?". The Guardian. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  18. ↑ "London mayor unveils plan to tackle 'climate emergency'". The Guardian. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  19. ↑ "London's In Danger Of Flooding. What Can Be Done To Stop It?". Londonist. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  20. ↑ "London tubes, schools and homes 'face climate change chaos'". The Guardian. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  21. ↑ Sleigh, Sophia (2 May 2019). "Tube chiefs ban adverts from 11 countries over poor human rights". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  22. ↑ "Leading London politician arrested while protesting Parliament shutdown". Enfield Independent. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  23. ↑ Morris, James (26 September 2019). "'Climate change means flooding of London stations will be commonplace'". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  24. ↑ Cumiskey, Lucas (13 December 2019). "General Election 2019: Re-elected Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn to stand down as Labour leader after Conservatives' landslide victory". Islington Gazette. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  25. ↑ "Green party's Siân Berry to run for London mayor again in 2020". The Guardian. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  26. ↑ "Caroline Russell - Register of interests". london.gov.uk. Greater London Authority. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  27. 1 2 "KEATING, Roland Francis Kester, (Roly)". Who's Who 2016. Oxford University Press. November 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
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