I’m Eleanor Stringer and I’m standing to be your MP.
I love Wimbledon. It’s where I grew up and where I’m raising my family.
Every week I speak to local people exhausted after fourteen years of the Conservatives. Too many are struggling to make ends meet or get the healthcare they need.
My family lost our home in the ‘90s recession - I know what it’s like to have your world turned upside down by government mismanagement. And that is what makes me so determined to fight for the people of Wimbledon.
As a campaigner, councillor and charity worker, I’ve been working closely with our local community for years.
Labour is the only party to have unseated a Conservative MP in Wimbledon and polls show we can do it again. It's only by voting Labour that we can get the government this country and our community desperately need.
Wimbledon is my home, it’s part of who I am.
I’m so proud to call Wimbledon my home. I grew up in SW19 and have fond memories of looking for Wombles on the common, playing tennis in Wimbledon Park and helping to clear the Wandle River of rubbish as a teenager. I am now raising my family here.
There would be no greater honour than having the privilege to represent my home town in Parliament.
My family background made me political.
When my dad’s small business went bust in the early 1990s recession, my family tumbled into financial difficulties. We had to keep moving home and I’ll never forget living in a cold, privately-rented house, sharing a bedroom with my sister. Like so many families living under this Tory government’s austerity agenda, I know what it’s like to live on benefits and remember how it felt to be reliant on school meal vouchers.
Like many of my generation, I’m a private renter. Without family help, home ownership in this area is out of the question for me and many others.
I know the difference a quality education can make.
I was able to take advantage of the significant investment in education and support for higher education provided by the last Labour government. I went to a school that pushed me and my family encouraged me.
I received an excellent education and graduated from a top university. But I was lucky. Under this government the ladder of opportunity is being denied to so many young people.
I’ve dedicated my whole career to improving the lives of others.
Since leaving university, I’ve always worked in the not-for-profit sector, working for leading research institutions.
I’m a passionate advocate of evidence-based policy, having commissioned dozens of large-scale trials to understand “what works” to improve the education of disadvantaged children, and used those findings to influence schools and government.
I’ve always helped charities and schools through voluntary governance roles, and am regularly found volunteering in my local community - planting bulbs in Haydons Road Rec, running events in Garfield Park or collecting food for the Dons Local Action Group.
I’ve seen the impact of Tory cuts first hand.
Through my work in the charity sector, and having had trustee roles in leading youth mental health and homelessness charities, I’ve seen the impact of austerity on our public services and on vulnerable people nationally.
As a councillor and local campaigner, every day I speak to residents struggling with the impact of Tory austerity. I’ve used my leadership roles in the council to do what I can to protect the most disadvantaged residents - including funding free school meals for children in the holidays, and awarding millions of pounds to frontline charities.
I have a track record of leadership.
I’ve led large teams and been responsible for budgets worth millions of pounds. I’ve worked with civil servants to make sure that our findings have led to government investment in effective programmes.
I promise to use these analytical, communication and management skills to be an effective leader for Wimbledon.