Laura Vroomen announced as Green candidate in Southside Central by-election
We caught up with Laura Vroomen after she was announced as the Green candidate for the Southside Central ward by-election, triggered by the death of Labour’s James Scanlon. The Glasgow City Council by-election has been set for 20 March.
Photo: Laura Vroomen Credit: Iain McLellan
By Devon McCole | Photo of Laura Vroomen by Iain McLellan
Local resident and Green Party member, Laura Vroomen, is returning to the world of local politics, throwing her hat into the race for the seat in the Southside Central ward – she formerly stood as a Green Party candidate in England and Wales before moving to Glasgow.
Disclaimer: Laura Vroomen is the volunteer deputy picture editor of our Greater Govanhill photography group
The other councillors currently representing the ward are: Alexander Belic (SNP), Elaine Gallagher (Scottish Greens), Soryia Siddique (Labour). The ward falls in Nicola Sturgeon’s Glasgow Southside constituency and includes Govanhill.
Read more: Mhairi Hunter announced as SNP candidate in Southside Central by-election
For more on how local elections work in Glasgow, please see this post from 2022.
The election date has officially been set as 20 March, this by-election will be a key Glasgow battleground seat. Just a few weeks previously, Reform UK got their first in-road into Glasgow City Council after the Scottish Conservative group leader defected.
Some candidates are still being announced, but we will release a complete list of the candidates as we have them. If you have any burning questions you’d like to ask the candidates fill in this survey and we’l put your questions to them.
We asked Laura Vroomen how it feels to be fighting for this seat in her ward…
You’ve been vocal about the fact that you want to address issues like litter in the streets and poor housing conditions. What specific policies do you have in mind to tackle these challenges in the Southside?
Obviously, the Greens in Glasgow have already made some strides in this area, as they’ve protected tenants from rent rises and eviction for example and Green councillors will push for rent controls in the upcoming Housing Bill to be used as quickly as possible in Glasgow. I think it’s vital that the Greens continue to support compulsory purchase legislation so vacant properties can be renovated and brought back into use. Also, repairs in mixed tenure buildings can be challenging – I would love to see some way of making this easier to do and address the issue of absentee landlords or property owners.
In the not-too-distant future, the bin hubs that have been trialled in Polloksheilds will be introduced in Govanhill and other parts of the Southside. While I welcome this, I’m also acutely aware that they won’t provide an instant solution to litter in the streets. In areas where residential and commercial properties sit side-by-side overflowing bins may still present a major challenge (respondents to a survey complained that bin hubs are being used by businesses, for example. Ultimately, the solution to litter will be a combination of policies, investment, education and fostering a sense of pride in one’s surroundings.
You’ve already been involved in local clean-ups and litterpicks. Can you speak more about how you plan to engage with the community on these issues if elected?
The first big litter pick I took part in was the Govanhill Spring Clean in April 2024, which was co-organised by Greater Govanhill, Govanhill Housing Association and the Al-Farooq Education and Community Centre. It saw about 100 people gather at the mosque to clean up the surrounding streets. Seeing so many people come together – of all ages and, significantly, from all different backgrounds – was really heartening. Subsequent sessions have been somewhat smaller and less diverse, which suggests to me that having representatives from a diverse range of groups involved in organising community events and tackling problems is vital. All voices need to be heard and all experiences taken on board. There will always be barriers to participation – people have busy lives and don’t necessarily have the bandwidth to take part – but language and culture need not be barriers.
You’ve worked with the magazine before, including on our picture desk, and seem deeply involved in community life. How important is community engagement in your approach to representing the Southside Central?
It’s essential! If it wasn’t for the activities I’ve participated in and all the people I’ve met locally, I would never have learned as much as I have and most certainly wouldn’t be in a position where I felt I could represent my party. It’s so important to engage with community groups and draw on the wealth of local knowledge they have – the many connections they’ve forged over the years and the lived experience and understanding they have of issues. It would defeat the purpose not to reach out and, crucially, work together.
You have experience as a Green Party candidate in England and Wales. How do you think your experience there will shape your campaign and work as a councillor in Glasgow?
In London I stood as a candidate in an area not traditionally strong for the Greens, but I still received a decent share of the vote – mainly because in previous years local Green Party members had been involved in issues close to residents’ hearts, most notably their campaign to stop a housing estate from being demolished. That suggests to me that building relationships with the local community is vital and probably more effective in getting our message out than leaflets. This is particularly important for a small party that doesn’t have unlimited resources.
In your press statement announcing your candidacy, you expressed hope for the Southside to be a place where everyone feels at home. What steps do you think the local council should take to make sure all residents feel included, particularly those from more marginalised communities?
Communication is absolutely key. A recent survey identified 88 different languages and dialects spoken in Govanhill. But behind that impressive statistic lies the uncomfortable truth that we don’t always understand each other. While out talking to people on the doorstep, I often encounter difficulties communicating with residents, and it pains me to think that some in our city may be excluded from the democratic process. Information about services must be published in the most widely spoken languages in the area, and I think it’s important that sufficient funding is made available so English language classes continue to be widely and freely available to new Scots. But most importantly, members from marginalised communities themselves should be consulted on their needs – like I said, communication is key.
It goes beyond the council though, every one of us must do what we can to make our communities welcome to all their members. I’ve been concerned at other parties embracing the politics of division and scapegoating migrants, trans people and other marginalised groups that make our communities richer and stronger. What people need from their representatives is help to make life easier, more affordable and fairer - not to throw some groups of people under the bus.
Finally, if elected, what is your main priority for the first 100 days in office, and how will you ensure you make a tangible impact on the local community right away?
If elected, I would like to sit down with as many local community groups as possible, listen to their concerns and priorities and invite them to share possible solutions. I would also like to explore low-cost, achievable options for reducing (commercial) waste – good for our streets and our planet – and now that local authorities have the power to enforce against parking on pavements, double parking and parking at dropped kerb crossing points, I would like to see these powers used, so our streets and pavements become easier and safer to negotiate for everybody.