Candidates:

Eryka Bankcroft (Reading LU)
Nominated by Terry Conway

Claire Jenkins (Nottinghamshire LU)
Nominated by Terry Conway

Linda Scotson
Nominated by Terry Conway

Colette Wymer (Sheffield LU) 
Nominated by Matt Hale

Statements:

Eryka Bankcroft (Reading LU)
Nominated by Terry Conway

I’m asking you to vote for me to serve on the Left Unity Standing Orders Committee (SOC) for Conference this year. I’m a fully paid up member of the Party and have been a member since the appeal for the discussion on the formation of a new left party in September last year I’m an active member within the Reading Left Unity Branch. I have some understanding of an SOC works having served on the UNISON SOC at Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender at National Conference last year. I have been a UNISON Shop Steward (previously NALGO) for a number of years and I regularly attend UNISON meetings locally, regionally and nationally. I have found that working on an SOC gives an excellent insight into how conferences work and would welcome the learning and developmental experience, if you are able to vote for me.

Claire Jenkins (Nottinghamshire LU)
Nominated by Terry Conway

I am membership secretary of Nottinghamshire branch LU and belong to NUT and Unite. I have a long history for fighting equalities issues in the NUT nationally and the TUC.

Linda Scotson
Nominated by Terry Conway

I was born in Manchester and became a political activist at the age of fifteen taking part in many rallies and demo’s learning much and eventually, as a student in London, joining the Communist Party of the time, I went on to teach at London Art Schools and to lecture on women’s rights. I moved to Forest Row in East Sussex where I stood as a labour candidate for the local council elections without much success in a predominately conservative area, but I did with intensive involvement, succeed in defeating the Ashdown Forest Bill designed to get the commoners off the land, fighting the battle eventually in the House of Commons in Westminster. My life changed when my partner died suddenly and soon after my son was born with severe brain injury. I was advised he would be unable to walk or speak. I borrowed some text books on physiology and neurology and worked out that brain injury leads to abnormal breathing which is the real barrier to better outcome. Having discussed these ideas with a professor at UCL, on passing some qualifying exams I began to research these ideas as a PhD. I developed a therapeutic approach and founded a charity to teach this to parents. My son incidentally became able to both converse and to run half marathons all because I had employed a non reductionist way of thinking. The PhD took a long time and I have just handed it in to UCL Institute of Child Health. After 9/11 I became convinced the official story was suspect and began to research geopolitical perspectives, I gathered together a small activist research group in the local village where I live which rapidly focused on the monetary system and how world economics is controlled. I also discovered Social Credit and Positive Money and from this I wrote a satirical play to try to wake people up to these issues, the play was filmed , performed locally and by various theatre groups throughout the UK and also released on U tube. I remarried and last summer my very supportive activist husband and myself along with many others were embroiled in the fracking nightmare locally at Balcombe, Sussex, attempting to stop Caudrilla drilling in the UK for shale gas extraction for quick profit at the expense of the people’s right to unpolluted air and water … and the environment for future generations. It is a very great relief to me to have found LU and I am keen to contribute.

Colette Wymer (Sheffield LU)
Nominated by Matt Hale

I have recently been in contact with the Sheffield branch and am starting to get more involved in their work. I also work with the People’s Assembly regularly.