Karen Jennings

My Priorities

The next election will be a stark choice.

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We can re-elect Gordon Brown as Prime Minister and give him the chance to continue the work of strengthening Britain as a country where we give the hard working majority a hand up in life, as well as treat our pensioners with respect and give our children a fair chance.

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If we give Gordon Brown his chance then we will keep on building a Britain where we value our schools, our hospitals and our other public services, and where we keep our economy stable and interest rates and inflation as low as possible while facing up to the tough choices about protecting the environment.

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Or we can face up to the nightmare prospect of a Tory government and all that means: cuts in schools, hospitals and overseas aid to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest few from the party of privilege.

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A return to the economic policies which gave us two recessions and a 15 mortgage rate punctuated by an unsustainable and brief boom.

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We would be isolated in Europe, and a diminishing voice in the world. While at home we'd again face rising crime and see our pensioners left to freeze every winter, while the environment ignored and equalities dismissed.

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That's the choice: Prime Minister Brown, or Prime Minister Cameron.

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There isn't some third option. Brown or Cameron - and you will decide.

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Last time round Labour lost Hornsey and Wood Green as voters decided to send Labour a message. That was every voter's right, and we in Labour have had to face up to that.

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But this time round a protest vote could end with the Tories in office. David Cameron's Tories have masses of money to spend on slick propaganda and advertising and the risk that they can win is real.

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And there is certainly no guarantee that the Liberal Democrats will not jump into bed with the Tories if they are offered a chance of power.

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That's why, when the election comes, voters in Hornsey and Wood Green could be the people who decide who is Prime Minister - Gordon Brown and his government of change for the better, or David Cameron and back to the failed Tory past - whatever his latest marketing campaign might suggest.

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Gambling with a Lib Dem vote is too big a risk.

My Experience

Karen lives in Muswell Hill and has been an active member of the Labour Party for over 25 years. She is a qualified nurse and practised in the NHS for ten years before becoming a researcher for Kent County Council.

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Karen’s knowledge and understanding of the NHS is extensive. She now heads UNISON’s Health Group policy and is a recognised authority in the field. As National Secretary (Health) for UNISON she has been elected to chair the most senior negotiating committee in the NHS representing 1.3 million health workers.

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Alongside her NHS and trade union career she has also developed a strong interest and passion for international affairs, particularly international health issues. Karen now chairs the Global Health Taskforce for Public Services International. This work takes her to some of the poorest countries in the world to support campaigning work on HIV & AIDS. Her recent trip to Malawi with Oxfam provided testimony material which was taken to the 2007 G8 Summit in June.

nShe has two grown up children and, having spent years as a working single mum herself, she understands the pressures of balancing work and family life and the stresses and strains modern families have to bear.