Pauline the Hackney Heroine to stand for Lib Dems in by-election

Pauline Pearce shot to YouTube fame last summer when she verbally confronted rioters near her home in Hackney.

She is now standing for the Liberal Democrats in the Hackney Central by-election:

A press release from Hackney Liberal Democrats says,

Pauline Pearce is 46 years old. She is a mother and grandmother who has lived in Hackney for 7 years . She is a long time campaigner against gang and knife crime and has started the organisation DS4L – “Do Something for Life”.

As “Lady P” she hosts a chat show on “Conscious radio” community radio station. She has had a career as a jazz singer and her work can be found on the LP “I hear music in the air” recorded in 1999.

She has been involved in gangs herself and has served three years in prison for drug smuggling. “I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of” she says, “now I want to put something back into my community”.

Pauline is well known for the You Tube clip that shows her standing up to rioters. She told the Evening Standard, “It was petrifying but I was just so angry. People’s cars were being set on fire. What has that got to do with the cause of the fellow shot in Tottenham? How does that support his family?”

But she, like many others, believes that support and not repression is what is needed. Her youngest son, Ronald, 18, was stabbed outside a shop two years ago and she has been campaigning ever since. Pauline uses her Monday afternoon show on the radio to speak out about gun and knife crime.

“It resulted in me digging my heels in,” she said. “Going to London Fields and Hackney Downs and talking to the young people about what was going on in their lives”.

Pauline is currently pushing for the establishment of community centres that will not be linked to individual estates and which will serve people across the generations.

Simon De Deney, Chair of Hackney Lib Dems said,

“We feel that Pauline will be a valuable addition to Hackney Council and we are proud to have her represent us. She is a real example of how a life can be turned around and how someone with a difficult past can give back to society.”