Hayling East – Lynn Tolmon - Havant Labour Party

I’m Lynn, your local Labour candidate. Is Labour perfect? No, but I’m a proud member of the party that was created to make the world fairer.

I’m from an old Emsworth family, and was raised in a culture of ponies, pools and superiority; as a child I was asked what I’d do with the house I was going to inherit, and horrified the family by replying that I would let everyone who needed somewhere to live move in with me. I am proud to say I grew up and did precisely that, before heading off to university to study archaeology.

I spent ten years living in the shadow of Liverpool Football Club, in one of the most economically desolate parts of the country, and co-founded Homebaked, a community land trust that has literally changed Anfield. We started out selling sandwiches to football fans to raise funds, and now it’s housing & employing local people, and winning awards as a bakery and housing co-operative. We believed the community deserved better, so we made Anfield better for everyone.

I moved back to Hayling Island when my son was a baby in 2016. Since then I’ve recycled, repurposed and rescued junk to build a home and garden run on ecological principles. I’m an Olio distributor (we take leftover food from supermarkets and distribute it to people who want it), I campaigned to save the railway cottages after they were burned down, and I’ve marched to fight the closure of children’s centres across Hampshire.

I intend to find out what matters to you, so that I can do my best for you, but here’s what I consider a priority for this neighbourhood –

spending the council budget on what matters, not on management and consultants.
making sure new homes don’t come before doctors surgeries, road improvements, and infrastructure.
fighting climate change by making green living easier and more rewarding.
reversing Conservative spending decisions – we need police on the streets, childrens centres, domestic abuse refuges, school buses, social workers, health visitors, public transport.
new ways of meeting community needs – CICs, CLTs, peer-to-peer provision, community barter networks, grass-roots activism.
zero tolerance for prejudice – sexism, racism, snobbery, appearance, sexuality, bullying; I won’t stand for anything except respect and kindness.