Suzy Stride, a 33-year old Labour candidate the UK General Election has high hopes of becoming the first British MP with Greek Cypriot roots.
In a recent interview with the Cyprus news Agency, Ms Stride says that her maternal grandparents moved to East London in the 1950s from Eptakomi in today’s Turkish occupied part of Cyprus.
She was raised in East London in a family with a “fully Greek Cypriot” mother and she usually visits the island three times a year. She recently visited her grandmother’s house in Eptakomi, only to find it crumbling.
She was the only one in her year to study at Cambridge, where one of her two sisters and her brother also studied. Her brother is the CEO and the soul of a local charity called ‘City Gateway’, which helps to upskill and train local young people and adults into work.
Suzy has been working there since leaving university and this is where she experienced the problems facing vulnerable citizens. It all played a key role in her deciding to contest the Harlow seat.
“Ι am passionate about bringing change through Westminster to local communities. Through seeing homes built in Harlow, jobs provided, the NHS protected and town centre regeneration,” she tells CNA.
Her other major preoccupation as an MP would be the promotion of the Cyprus issue and the need for a just settlement: “I am clearly also very passionate about helping to bring resolution to the Cypriot issue. The fact that Nicosia remains the last divided capital city in the world, that Famagusta remains a ghost town and many people including my family lost land and homes and friends due to the illegal occupation of northern Cyprus motivates me. Recently I was in Eptakomi and saw the smashed up graveyard where my grandfather is buried, we could not find his tombstone because the graveyard was so destroyed. There is lots of hurt and sadness, but change is possible as is resolution and I will like to be involved in this. “
Although she is not fluent in Greek, her openness and the way she talks, with lots of gestures betray her roots.
“That’s how I start my speeches: I am a cockney and a Greek Cypriot, and this means I often speak at the speed of light. This is who I am,” she says jokingly, but quite accurately.
To the UK Cypriots she promises to work hard.
“One of the things I have learnt from my Greek Cypriot roots is that hard work is the key to success; I think that`s what people will expect of me and I won`t let them down,” she says, asking for the community’s support in the run up to the 7th May. “I feel incredibly privileged to be part of such an amazing community with such rich cultural identity, that has given so much to Britain. My Greek Cypriot roots are such a huge part of who I am, and I am incredibly proud to be Greek Cypriot– which I think often does mean being part of and from a community of people who are passionate, hardworking, determined, warm, real and incredibly loving.
“With 300,000 Cypriots in the UK I really would love to see more engaging with politics as a way to bring change. If you would like to support me that would be fantastic please do get in contact. I am in a huge fight to win and I am up against an opponent who is far better resourced than me both with staff and financially. So any support you can give would be incredible, so please do get in touch.”
She says the Labour Party is “pretty close” to the Cypriot community and that many of the party’s policies, such as supporting small business, will chime with members of the community.
As far as the main issues in the election campaign agenda are concerned, Suzy Stride says she is “optimistic about Britain`s future but not complacent,” as the next government needs to address the structural problems in the British economy. “I want to live in a country where all young people and adults can achieve their potential, which means we need schools, housing and communities as well as a jobs market which enables people to fulfil their potential. I believe that only a Labour government can deliver this.”
She also warns against turning migrants to scapegoats.
“If history teaches us anything it is that there is always a danger of intolerance and that this increases in times of economic hardship. We just have to look across the water to Greece and observe the rise of the Golden Dawn to underline this. Real leadership and real change is about doing something about root causes. We need to raise and enforce the minimum wage, work with public, private and third sectors on implementing a living wage and we need to make sure companies do not take advantage of workers overseas by engaging in a race to the bottom for wages.”
That means that she wants the UK in the European Union, “because it`s in the best interests of the UK to be in the EU. That does not mean there are not areas that do not need reform though.”
What keeps coming up during the discussion with Suzy Stride is her passion about helping underprivileged people through City Gateway.
“I would do it for free; I’ll probably be doing it forever. You only live once and you need to try to bring change. If you have opportunities, you must create opportunities for others, you don’t have a right to stay in the sidelines.”
But will she maintain this mentality as an MP? “I think so, because I have strong roots. At Cambridge it was challenging at first. My grandpa, a vicar of CoE, saw I was a bit overwhelmed by my surroundings. What he said was ‘remember your roots’. When things are difficult I follow his advice – and it helps me.”
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