About Caroline
My name is Caroline Russell and since my election as a councillor in May 2014, I’ve held the only opposition seat to Labour’s 47 seats across Islington.
I’m a transport campaigner and the Green Party’s National spokesperson on Local Transport.
I’ve lived in London for thirty years and in that time I’ve been an artist and college lecturer, a cycle courier, a civil engineering student, a school governor, community activist and I’ve raised a family.
As a walking and cycling campaigner, I successfully made the case for 20mph limits on main roads in Islington and played a key role in setting Islington on the path to becoming a 20mph borough. I have worked part-time for the national walking charity Living Streets.
In 2011, I led a community science project with Mapping for Change that revealed Nitrogen Dioxide pollution levels on Blackstock Rd in Highbury that were 75% above EU safety limits. I’m campaigning for boroughs to be able to join the proposed Ultra Low Emission zone to help clean up our polluted air and received a Clean Air in London award for my work on this in 2012.
As a councillor, my primary focus is serving the people in my ward and working with residents, community groups and Green Party activists to keep the town hall accountable, support public services and work for a sustainable economy and environment in Islington.
I’ve seen first hand the challenges that so many people in my borough are facing, not least in coping with inadequate housing, insecure employment and environmental conditions that simply shouldn’t be acceptable in a fair society. I am a passionate supporter of the Green Party’s commitment to provide decent homes for everyone, and am campaigning to upgrade local housing with better insulation and more efficient heating systems.
I am also a champion for clean air and more liveable, inclusive streets, where walking and cycling are safe, convenient and a pleasure for people of all ages and those with disabilities.
##### Listen to Caroline interviewed by Mark Mardell on The World at One about air pollution:
Image: © Chris King / [Chris King Photography](http://www.chriskingphotography.com/)