Elections are going on now for the Mayor of Hackney. The Save Laburnum School Campaign wrote to all the candidates asking them to support us.

5 of them ignored us (Labour, Lib Dem, Tories, Hackney First and an Independent)

3 candidates gave us their full support. You get a 1st choice and a 2nd choice on your ballot paper. We recommend that you give your votes to 2 of these candidates:

Terry Edwards Independent
Paul Foot Socialist Alliance
Crispin Truman Green Party

But we can’t leave it up to the politicians. We need your support if we are going to keep the school open. Come to the next meeting of the campaign:

Tuesday 8th October, 5pm at 75 Hebden Court, Laburnum Street.

Here is what the Mayor candidates said to us:

Terry Edwards (Independent)
“I went to Laburnum School as did my brothers and we got a good education here. If I am elected Mayor of Hackney, Laburnum School will not close.”

Paul Foot (Socialist Alliance)
The answer to your question is an unequivocal Yes I support your campaign. The elected mayor will have little power, but will be able at least to block and stall council closure plans, and use the influence of the elected office to campaign against them. I would do these things most energetically. I would like to say that I will also be available to – and supportive of – your campaign if I am not elected.

I went last week to a meeting at Kingsland school, which is also threatened with closure, and was impressed by the level of local fury the council have stirred up by their policy. In a borough where problems are so obviously caused by deprivation and poverty, it seems to me quite incredible that the council should be closing schools, nurseries and libraries. That is why I agreed to stand as Socialist Alliance candidate for mayor.

Crispin Truman (Green Party)
As Mayor of Hackney I would fully support the kids, parents and staff of Laburnam School and the wider community in your campaign to keep the school open. It’s my strong belief that the work you are doing to protect and improve our borough cannot be dismissed by Hackney Council but must be welcomed and supported if we are ever to turn things around. It’s the role of Mayor to put the interests of local people at the top of the local agenda, protecting services for the future instead of sacrificing everything we have to the obsessive need to please the government and its accountants.

I have two young children of my own, one of them attends William Patten School in Stoke Newington, so I am very acutely aware of the importance of having a local school which kids can walk to, with their mates living close by. I’m also struck by the importance of a thriving school to a healthy community – as you say it’s not just pupils and parents who benefit, but all adults who can contribute and learn as part of the wider role a school has in bringing people together.