General Assembly candidates for Wandsworth and Merton battle it out as the May election nears

By Sian Bayley, local democracy reporter

The fight is on to elect a candidate for Wandsworth and Merton to represent the boroughs at the London Assembly.

The election will take place on the same day as the Mayoral Election, on May 6.

The seat is currently held by Labour’s Leonie Cooper, a councillor in Wandsworth, who is running again this year.

When she won in 2016 it was the first time the seat had flipped from Conservative to Labour since its creation in 2000, and it is set to be one of the closest seats again this year.

Ms Cooper is being challenged by fellow Wandsworth councillor, Louise Calland, who is running for the Conservative Party.

Roger Gravett from ReformUK, Pippa Maslin from the Green Party, and Sue Wixley from the Liberal Democrat Party are also contesting.

On Tuesday residents had the first opportunity to question candidates at a virtual debate hustings, hosted by the Wandsworth, Wimbledon, and Battersea societies.

However, due to a Zoom limit on the number of participants not everybody could gain access.

There will be another hustings hosted by The Southfields Grid Residents Association next Monday (April 26) from 7:30-9pm.

For a link email info@southfieldsgrid.org.uk by the end of Sunday.

Riverside Radio is also holding a debate virtually on April 27 at 7pm.

The session will be broadcast live on air, and a live video stream will be running on YouTube.