A PATH TO POLITICS

Tag interviews local Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Josh Babarinde

Despite the next general election not being until May 2024, the Eastbourne Liberal Democrats are already making preparations to strengthen their position locally by recently announcing their parliamentary candidate

Josh Babarinde.

Mr Babarinde has in the last few years become quite a familiar face to the Eastbourne area and he spoke to Tag about his background, his achievements to date and his reasons for moving into politics.

When asked to introduce himself, Josh described himself as:

“A down to Earth Eastbourne boy, with aspirations to make our town, community and society an even better place and give something back to the town.”

“A down to Earth Eastbourne boy”

Who is Josh Babarinde?

experience at East Sussex College (formerly Park College) and how it has helped him to get to where he is today.

“I did my A-Levels at East Sussex College between 2009 and 2011 and did Politics, Law,

Sociology, Economics and the Extended Project

Qualification. It was the amazing teachers who believed in me, who really gave me the confidence to dream big and achieve for me, my family and our town. I was also elected as Student

Union President and as a student governor when

I was doing my A-Levels. This was one of my first experiences of representing people and fighting for them at the top table. It has set me up well for my role as our town’s Lib Dem parliamentary candidate – and, if the town backs me at the next election – as our MP!”

It was while away at university in London that he started to volunteer, working with ex-offenders and ex-gang members:

“It was as a result of that work that I set up my business aimed at supporting those youngsters away from crime and into employment. The business was focused on training these exoffenders to repair cracked iPhone screens. It allowed them to earn money and develop new skills.”

As a result of his hard work, Josh was awarded an OBE which pushed him even more to want to give back to the town. Last year, he decided to stand as a local councillor and just recently he was selected as the new Lib Dem MP candidate for Eastbourne.

Josh spoke at length to Tag about wanting to be ‘’a vocal and visible champion” for Eastbourne, listening to the public and giving the town what they want and deserve.

Having a greener and fairer Eastbourne are two issues important to Josh. He wants Eastbourne to play its part in combatting climate change but he also wants a fairer Eastbourne. He believes everybody should have the same opportunities regardless of their upbringing and start in life. However, the topic he was most passionate about was the NHS and the DGH.

“A major thing that I stand for is investment in our

NHS, in particular our hospital. This government promised our town that we will have a new hospital and I’m very concerned that this promise may be broken.” Voting gives us all a voice. It’s important to vote so that other people don’t make decisions that don’t necessarily suit our needs. We are lucky to be living in a democracy where we as the public get to choose who we want in power to represent us.

When it comes to the voting system, many disagree with it. An important issue has been the ‘votes at 16’ debate. Although many believe that 16 year olds are too young to vote, other people believe that if you’re allowed to join the army and get married, then you should be able to vote and have your say. Josh told us:

“I believe that we should have a proportional voting system in the UK which is one where overall the percentage of votes is directly linked to the percentage of seats in parliament that parties have.” What does Josh want to bring to the town and what does he promise for teenagers?

“If people want a town where we have a thriving new local hospital, a town that is fairer, a town where there are more opportunities for young people to go and achieve their aspirations, a greener planet, integrity and decency in politics against corruption then those people should vote for me! This is what I stand for!”

Josh moved on to the promises he wants to make for our generation, our education and making sure we all have the opportunities to thrive and develop skills for later in life. He also touched on local infrastructure: with teenagers wanting to keep fit and active, the town needs to improve the cycling facilities. Finally, he wants to make it easy for us to access the housing ladder by building more homes in the right places and making them more affordable.

“My final message would be: politics is all around us. Politics can change how our schools work, how we solve a climate emergency. Politics determines whether or not we can buy a flat, what kind of job we may or may not be able to go into. Politics is linked to how fulfilled our lives are and how happy we can be and I stand for a situation for a society where we can chose to lead the kind of lives we want to.

So I will say to readers, if that’s what you believe in too and if you want someone as your local MP who gets you and has the same sort of path as you then I’m your guy!“ The next general election is going to make a huge difference to our nation with a new generation of voters finally having a right to give our opinion and vote for who we want to represent our constituency. Who these new voters choose depends very much on how representatives like Josh put themselves forward over the next few years. Will Josh Babarinde be the vocal and visible champion he promises to be?

Sam Kavakli Design: George Walker Photography: Amber Pisani-Cleland

FIND OUT MORE

Josh’s office is at 100 Seaside Road. Email: josh@josh.org.uk. Drop in or drop him an email if you want to get involved.