Uma Kumaran’s family fled war and genocide to seek a new life in Britain. Now she’s standing for parliament in Stratford and Bow constituency. In this exclusive interview with Newham Voices reporters Aidan White and Daisy Miles she answers hard questions about Labour’s local democracy challenge, building trust and the need for urgent actions to confront the poverty and homes crisis.

Uma Kumaran has travelled a long way since her family fled Sri Lanka’s civil war and genocide in the 1980s. She was born in East London, in the heart of the capital’s Tamil community, where her parents settled.

“Britain welcomed them here with open arms, gave them safe refuge and the chance to rebuild their life,” she says. Then came a childhood spent in West London, student years at Queen Mary College and a working life in the NHS and local government.

“I’ve had an incredible life,” she says, “to have been a hospital radio DJ, a volunteer radio presenter, worked in politics, and been able to fulfil my parents’ ambitions and dreams that they never got back home.”

Now she’s back and ready for an historic next step. “I’ve lived in Stratford, in Maryland and in Bow,” she says. “I have an incredible opportunity to be able to serve in a place that really does mean a lot to me. It is kind of a coming home, if you like, for me and life coming full circle.”

Stratford and Bow is a new seat, but the residents face the same challenges as others across London. “We are having the same conversation in London and around the country about the pressures people face on housing and cost of living.

“Everywhere people are worried about the hopes for the future, so for me being back here gives me the chance to give back and to be a voice for those who are feeling a bit left behind.”

She’s determined to make a difference and she promises change under a new Labour government. “Newham is going to finally see the kind of investment that we’ve long been calling for,” she says, “for our council services, for our housing, for more police on the streets.”

She has five pledges including to be accessible to the community, to lower energy bills, and to provide the biggest boost for affordable housing in a generation.

Her ambition is clear, but she doesn’t ignore Labour’s internal problems in Newham, where the local constituency parties have been suspended for more than three years. It’s not a good look for local democracy when local party members are excluded from choosing their candidates for parliament or for the Council.

She doesn’t duck the question. “Local action and local democracy is the heart of where we can begin change,” she says.

“Local politics can have a positive impact on people’s lives. It is something that really, really matters to me. The local party has been very turbulent, and it is one of my priorities to help restore the trust in the local process and to help the party come back together. I will work hard to lift the suspensions.”

If elected she aims to be a strong local MP. “I will be accessible with an office in the heart of the community,” she says. “I think it’s important to be accessible, to be visible, to restore trust in your local MP and to show there’s a new face here.”

She has her priorities for action already laid out – on homelessness, the housing crisis and combatting crime. “We’ve got an incredible opportunity,” she says, “with a Labour Council, a Labour Mayor of London, and a Labour government, we have got the plan for the future.”

She cites introducing respect orders with powers to ban persistent adult offenders to combat anti-social behaviour such as public drinking, drug use and fly tipping. “This is a direct fix for a problem that we are seeing in a part of Newham. We do need tougher rules, we do need to take this seriously. It’s about pride in place and it’s about pride in where you live.”

She aims to strengthen funding for local government and social care. “Our council has had more than 50 percent of their core funding cut over the years. I used to work at the Local Government Association. I’ve seen firsthand the choices that our councils are having to make, between saving adult social care and services, or more regular refuse collection?”

She plans to ease the pain of people stranded in flats that are unsellable and unmortgageable because of the cladding situation where property values have plummeted, and people‘s life savings are at risk. They are stuck in a position that is not of their own making.

On homelessness she says there will be a cross-government strategy to provide more funding for new homes and social action programmes to deal with mental health issues, drug addiction and family breakdown which arise from the housing crisis. Her particular target is the crisis of no-fault evictions which make renters easy targets for predatory landlords.

“A lot of people are potentially at risk with around 70 percent of Stratford and Bow residents living in either a flat or an apartment,” she says. “A Labour government will immediately abolish no fault evictions.” She also says that first-time buyers must get priority on the property market “but we need those homes to be genuinely affordable”.

Not least of her concerns is to change the tone of politics, to combat abuse in public discourse and particularly to eliminate the fear of abuse and threats that women often feel in public spaces.

“We’re living in turbulent times politically and going into the general election some of the stuff some people are saying online is whipping up real danger. Part of the root cause is misogyny,” she says. “We want schools to address misogyny and teach young people about healthy relationships. All of us, at whatever ages we are, have a part to play in rooting it out.”

She goes into the election with confidence and optimism. “It is a homecoming for me. And therefore, everything I do and everything I say, absolutely, I want to be held to account and I want to deliver.”

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