The Cities of London and Westminster electorate is one of the safest Tory seats in the UK. It also has a homelessness problem with one of the highest concentrations of rough sleepers in the country.
As the general election looms, candidates for the seat are vying for voter attention. But what do they have to say about this most pressing of issues?
- ‘Consign it to history’: Sadiq Khan pledges to end rough sleeping in London by 2030
- Number of women sleeping rough on England’s street may be nine times higher than government thinks
On Thursday (27 June), you have a chance to find out. Big Issue editor Paul McNamee will host a hustings on homelessness in the electorate, giving members of the public the opportunity to quiz candidates.
Conservative hopeful Tim Barnes will attend, as will Labour’s Rachel Blake, Edward Lucas for the Liberal Democrats, Tim Hallett representing the Modern Evolutionary Democracy Party, Reform UK’s Tarun Ghulati and John Generic, who is standing as an independent.
The hustings has been organised by The Connection at St Martin’s, a leading charity who help people who are rough sleeping to move away from, and stay off, the streets of London.
The issue couldn’t be more pressing. Rough sleeping rose by 27% in 2023 and 60% over the past two years. Meanwhile a record number of people, including over 145,000 children are currently experiencing homelessness, trapped living in temporary accommodation, often in squalid and overcrowded conditions.
