Greenwich Lib Dems select Ulysse Abbate and Chris Annous

A local party press release brings the news:

Greenwich Borough Liberal Democrats have selected Chris Annous, 24, and Ulysse Abbate, 22, to be their candidates for the constituencies of Greenwich & Woolwich and Eltham respectively at the next general election.

Born and raised in Greenwich, Chris Annous was the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Candidate for the Greenwich and Lewisham constituency in May 2021, making him the youngest candidate in that year’s GLA elections.

A communications professional, he is a committed anti-racism campaigner who has helped shape the Liberal Democrats’ policies on race equality. As London Assembly candidate, he was vocal in calling for reform of the Met police to tackle discrimination and for the cancellation of Labour’s polluting Silvertown motorway tunnel in Greenwich.

Commenting on his selection as parliamentary candidate for Greenwich and Woolwich, Chris Annous said:

As someone born and raised in Greenwich, I know our local community has been let down by Labour’s complacency locally and by the cruelty and incompetence of this Conservative government nationally.

Under Keir Starmer’s leadership Labour is unwilling to stand up for Britain’s place in Europe, the rights of refugees and the climate action we need in Greenwich and Woolwich.

I look forward to speaking to residents and providing them with the clear, liberal alternative to Labour that Greenwich needs.

Commenting on the importance of engaging his generation in politics, he added:

Young people are passionate about tackling the big challenges we face, whether that be the housing crisis, rising intolerance and discrimination, or climate change.

Unfortunately our views are too frequently overlooked by politicians, worsening disillusionment.

I want to be the change I know young people want to see. I will be the vocal representative for our generation we need in parliament to boost engagement in the political process.

Ulysee Abbate is currently completing a Master’s Degree at the London School of Economics. Born and raised in Eltham, he is an active volunteer in his local community. He volunteers his time to support local foodbanks, protect the local environment and has worked to support local refugees through the Greenwich Sanctuary Project.

A committed internationalist, he is part of the Liberal Democrats’ delegation to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe, where he works with the Lib Dems’ sister parties in Europe to further liberal values. He has previously stood twice for the Liberal Democrats in local council elections in Greenwich.

Commenting on his selection as parliamentary candidate for Eltham, Ulysse Abbate said:

As someone who lives and grew up in Eltham, I want to give back to my local community. That is why I’m standing to be our voice for parliament on a platform of progressive, people-centred ideas.

From investment in public services and environmentalism to internationalism and fighting crime, I will campaign where Labour and the Conservatives fail.

You can follow Chris, Ulysse and Greenwich Lib Dems on Twitter.

See all the Liberal Democrat PPCs selected and publicly announced so far here.

Keep up with news about Lib Dem selections

If you’d like to be notified by email when further posts about Liberal Democrat selections appear on this blog, just sign up here. (Note: if you’re already signed up for a daily email alert with all my new blog posts, then there’s no need to sign up for these alerts too as the stories will also be in the full daily digest.)