April 6th 2021

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has announced that Steve Kelleher will run as the party's candidate to be Mayor of London. This follows the SDP's recent announcement of David Bettney as its candidate for the Hartlepool parliamentary by-election.

A native Londoner, Kelleher is the son of Irish immigrants and grew up around the Elephant & Castle. He works in recruitment in The City, is the father of five children and coaches cricket locally in his spare time.

As Mayor of London, Kelleher will apply three simple, core policies that will work to the benefit of all Londoners.  These will be funded through cuts in wasteful overheads identified across the GLA, TFL and the Metropolitan Police.

*50,000 NEW COUNCIL HOUSES- The SDP aims for 50,000 new council houses to be built in the capital every year by 2024.  In addition, priority access to council housing will be given to those who were born, raised or currently live in a borough.

*BACK THE POLICE- Policing in London has become both politicised and divorced from the everyday concerns of Londoners. Assertive Community foot patrols are the way to both drastically cut crime rates and to start to restore public confidence in the Met. The SDP will aims to increase the number of officers on the beat across the capital by 10,000.

*FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE -Young people need help in seeking work and starting businesses - so free public transport will be made available to all under 25s for the three years up to and including their 25th birthday. Occasional free travel will be made available to anyone who has lived in the capital for five consecutive years.

"I'm an ordinary person, disaffected by the two party politics that has dominated life in the UK for as long as I can remember," saysSDP London Mayoral candidate Steve Kelleher. "But I've seen the fall-out from that most clearly in the city where I've lived all my life. And now I want to see positive change. I've long struggled to find a party whose policies struck me as coherent, balanced and practicable - but the SDP has those policies. It's time some common sense was allowed to take root in the way the capital is managed."

"London is at a crossroads - in terms of its influence globally, in terms of its standing within the nation, in terms of what makes it work for its hugely diverse yet remarkably cohesive population," addsWilliam Clouston, leader of the Social Democrat Party."It's self-evident that a lack of clear, people-first thinking has consistently led the capital down blind alleys and its people into unnecessary conflict. We need a fresh, more pragmatic approach if London is to retain its vibrancy, creativity and collective spirit."

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) is a patriotic economically left-leaning and culturally traditional party.   Founded in 1981 the party revived itself in 2018 with the objective of preserving and sustaining the institutions of the family, the community and the nation.

Additional links: 

• Web: https://sdp.org.uk/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sdphq
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SDPhq
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SocialDemocraticParty

For interviews with Steve Kelleher pl

ease contact:

Roz Hubley at  roz.hubley@sdp.org.uk or 07817792528