Clapham Common Councillor - Ruth Ling

Councillor Ruth Ling

When and why did you become interested in politics?
When I was about five, my dad stood as a Labour candidate in the London County Council elections. I was fascinated by all these people coming to our house, which was the campaign HQ. We lived near Wandsworth Common, just behind the house in Routh Road where David Lloyd George had lived, so Pop took me to see it and explained the basics of politics. I joined my first political party (a fringe one for lunatics) when I was 16, the Ecology Party when I was 17, and the Labour Party when I was 20. Living in Burma at the time of General Ne Win’s coup of the U Nu government in 1962, and in Brazil when they had their first democratic elections in 17 years (November 1982), I’ve witnessed pivotal moments of international politics first-hand.

What inspired you to become a councillor?
As someone who’d had so many privileges in life – a loving home, good health (thanks to the NHS introduced by a Labour government), an education, and being born in a democracy - I felt it was time I gave something back. Having always worked as a journalist (I currently edit a design and architecture magazine), I knew that skill could be used to write persuasive letters to Council officers to get action taken on behalf of disgruntled or distressed residents. In this way, I’ve helped thousands of local people with problems ranging from council flat repairs to parking appeals, anti-social neighbours to errors on housing benefit and council tax accounts.

Has it been worthwhile?
It can be disheartening to work very long hours, every evening after work, and all of most weekends, and get back so much rudeness, criticism and abuse. I think many people just don’t realise that most councillors have full-time day jobs and that we’re not employees of the council on 24-hour call - or punchbags. But when you do get a letter or email of thanks, you know you’ve really made a difference to that person’s life and you put it in your ‘Nice Thank You Letters’ folder and treasure it. On the other hand, it’s amazing how many ‘ordinary’ people work so hard to improve things on their estate or in their community – for no thanks, recognition or remuneration. It’s usually those who have the least in material terms who give the most in energy, passion and commitment. And on the Notre Dame estate, it’s mostly ladies in their 60s, 70s and 80s!

What are your greatest fear and greatest hope?
My greatest fears are debilitating long-term illness, and ‘humankind’ (both parts of the word being an anachronism) inflicting even more damage on our fragile planet than we have already. My greatest hope is that human beings will develop respect and tolerance for each other. I can’t imagine there will ever be a time without racism, homophobia and religious and political bigotry – but I sincerely hope and pray that I’m proved wrong.

What’s the first thing you would do if you ruled the world for a day?
Call an immediate ceasefire to all wars worldwide, starting in the Middle East. I’ve worked on a kibbutz in the Golan Heights, have travelled a lot in Egypt, the Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and have Palestinian, Jewish and Arab friends. So when I see those shocking scenes on the news, they look so familiar. As it is, three weeks after the present conflict began, the world leaders who could have done so much to contain the situation were still stoking the fire with inflammatory one-sided judgements but taking no action to save civilian lives.

Councillor Ruth Ling has helped thousands of residents in the past 11 years, including Abbeville Road resident Robin Hall, whose council tax problem she resolved.

What single thing would most improve your area?
Less anti-social behaviour: for people to be able to walk the streets and estates without fear of being a victim of crime, mown down by a cyclist on the pavement or harangued by a hooligan with ‘attitude’.

What fictional character do you identify with, and why?
None – because truth is stranger than fiction, and a fascinating real life story beats anything imagined! The most gripping autobiography I’ve read was Sold by Zana Muhsen (Warner Books), about two young Birmingham sisters being sold into slavery in the Yemen by their father. I also love obituaries – I often end up wishing I had known that person! Currently I’m reading the wonderful Stargazing by Peter Hill (Canongate), a funny and charming account of his experiences as a Scottish island lighthouse-keeper – with whom I do identify as it starts with him being an art student in the 70s, as I was.

What’s your favourite film?
Just one? Oh, please! Latcho Drom (1992), which tracks the migration of gypsy culture from Rajasthan to southern Spain; gorgeous cinematography, no dialogue or commentary, just thrilling music by gypsy musicians from seven countries. Pavee Lackeen (2005), a heart-rending documentary about an Irish traveller family’s housing battles with Dublin City Council, centring on 10-year-old Winnie Maughan. And I Want To Live! (1958), a film noir with a great blues soundtrack for which Susan Hayward won an Oscar as a boozy hussy of scant virtue executed for murder in a miscarriage of justice, which I’ve loved ever since first seeing it when I was seven!

What does your council do particularly well?
The fireworks displays in our open spaces on Guy Fawkes’ Night. I always go to the one on Clapham Common and it’s great to hear the applause as the show reaches its finale. I’ve never heard one complaint about the fireworks events – just loads of praise.

What do you consider your greatest political triumph?

After residents of Abbeville Road lobbied Ruth about heavy vehicles speeding along the road throughout the night, and causing vibration damage to houses as they crash over the speed humps, she got the Lambeth Transport Partnership Forum to propose a night-time heavy vehicle ban, which the Labour-run Area Committee endorsed.

Being elected top of the poll each time (in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006) in Clapham Common which, as the most affluent ward in Lambeth, is not exactly natural Labour territory. I can only think that people trust me to do the work enough to put aside any political differences. Indeed, one gentleman has told me, “You’re the only Socialist [sic] I’ve ever voted for.”

What was your most embarrassing moment?
I’m not easily embarrassed. If I make a faux pas, I usually realise immediately, and make a joke out of it. Best to laugh at yourself before anyone else does!

What is the biggest problem with local government today?
In Lambeth, a lack of continuity, with a change of administration at every election – not helped by there being too many wannabe career politicians using a four-year spell on the Council as a fillip to their CV! I know people currently jockeying for a parliamentary candidature who have zilch experience of public service. And, in London, too many councillors have only worked in the political arena – as lobbyists, MPs’ researchers and so on – and have very little experience of business or private sector work through which they can relate to their constituents’ lives.

How would you solve it?
It’s not enough just to be a member of a political party with a record of election campaigning. Potential candidates should be able demonstrate a sustained record of public or community service. My former Labour co-councillor in this ward (1998-02), Roland Doven, was a great example of this: he has years of experience as a JP and a member of the General Medical Council, Parole Board and countless other public bodies. So was Jonathan Myerson (Clapham Town, 2002-06), a youth courts magistrate until being suspended by the Lord Chancellor for whistle-blowing, and someone who always seems to put other people first. Both true public servants.

Who is your political hero, and why?
Mahatma Gandhi for using the dirty business of politics to spread the message of peace and non-violence; the suffragettes for winning the vote for 52 per cent of the UK population. But my greatest political heroine is Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratically elected leader of Burma (victor in the national election in 1990) and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, for her peaceful resistance to oppression. She was the daughter of General Aung San, the prime minister who was assassinated in 1948, just before achieving independence from British rule, when she was two. Suu has been under house arrest by the military junta for 10 of the past 17 years and has never been allowed to assume her rightful role as national leader. When I lived in Rangoon as a child (on the university campus, yards away from Suu’s house), Burma was a kind, gentle Buddhist country with immense natural beauty and wealth in its teak, gemstones and rice. The military dictatorship has rendered it one of the poorest countries on earth, with an appalling human rights record and little contact with the world beyond its largely closed borders.

When and where are you happiest?
In Scotland (and on the rail journey between Durham and Dundee). I visit several times a year – most of my oldest, closest friends live there. The medieval and Georgian architecture of Edinburgh, the rocky volcanic mount of Arthur’s Seat rising surreally from amid city streets, the fishing villages of the East Neuk of Fife, the silent grandeur of the Highlands, good manners, the friendliness of Glasgow and Inverness, fabulous music at the Ceilidh Place in Ullapool, smoke-free pubs – and all the great home cooking I get at my friends’ houses! And a really efficient residents’ parking scheme in Edinburgh and twice-weekly domestic rubbish collection – in Fife, the Council even rinses out the wheelie bins every week!

What’s your theme song, and why?
William Blake’s Jerusalem. I studied it for A level English Lit, my first published short story (in a women’s magazine when I was 19) was titled And Was Jerusalem Builded Here, it was one of my wedding hymns, and… er, when John Prescott is left in charge of the last day of the Labour Party conference, we sing it at the closing ceremony. And once, when I was belting it out on Christmas Eve on a street corner in Damascus in a duet with a Tory solicitor from Woking, the Muhabarat (Syrian Secret Police) threatened to arrest me – though probably as much for my tuneless racket as for being an infidel!

Which book would you take with you to a desert island?
The novel I’m writing – when I have a spare moment, ha ha. It’s a black tragi-comedy, a psychological chiller. So far, it’s 87,367 words long – but I’ve been writing it for more than four years! If I was banished to a desert island, I might find the time to write those last 12,633 words. But my old school pal Nici, who summons me to Friday evening editorial meetings in the bar at Tate Modern to plan the plot, would have to be sent past on a raft once a month to shout at me to keep going!

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