Tulse Hill Councillor - Toren Smith

Councillor Toren Smith

When and why did you first become interested in politics?
I joined the Labour Party in 1986 because I wanted to help stop Thatcher from winning another term of office.

What inspired you to become a councillor?
I became a councillor because I thought I could do a better job of representing the community.

Has it been worth it?
So far, but ask me again in three years time

What’s your greatest fear and your greatest hope?
My greatest fear is that we change the Council but that this wont be recognised at the time of the next elections. We can persuade people that it was down to a Labour team that things changed for the better.

What’s the first thing you would do if you ruled the world for a day?
Give everybody a decent pension.

What single thing would most improve your area?
One thing is impossible, how about three? I would say, more secondary school places, more street trees and new pavements.

What fictional character do you identify with, and why?
Peter Parker/Spiderman – he fought crime but was a mortal man with real feelings.

What’s your favourite film?
Gone with the wind – it simply has everything.

What does your council do particularly well?
Communicate with residents. The MORI polling conducted on behalf of the Council shows that the percentage of residents who want to be engaged with what the Council is doing is amongst the highest in the country. I think this shows that residents are listening to what the Council wants to do.

What do you consider your greatest political triumph?
I was quite proud of getting the Council to pay £200 compensation to a resident who lost his redecorating business after they bricked it up in an estate pram shed.

What was your most embarrassing moment?
Canvassing a friend who was going to vote green, practically begging her not to make the mistake of wasting her vote!

What is the biggest problem with local government today?
Council officers can often be absolutely brilliant but sometimes in Lambeth can be rather disappointing.

How would you solve it?
Better training and more innovation.

Who is your political hero, and why?
I agree with the commentator who once said that political careers usually end in failure. That said, an American politician whose promise was not fulfilled, who was charismatic, self deprecating and ruthless, who I do admire, was Bobby Kennedy.

When and where are you most happy?
Eating out with friends in the best Portugese restaurant in the Borough, the Gallery on Brixton Hill.

What’s your theme song, and why?
Would have to be the rocky theme tune for when I’m delivering leaflets!

What one book would you take with you to a desert island?
Can I admit to the Almanac of American politics? If I read a page a day it would last 4 years.

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