Here is my latest Muswell Flyer article – about the start of summer in late June / July….

What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been. It has been so busy, but full of great events and finally some good weather too!

Thankfully, the weather picked up just in time for the grand finale of the independent shops competition. What a great day that was – celebrating our best local independent stores outside Hornsey Town Hall with a live band, hot food and free local beer! Congratulations again to the worthy winners: Brand New Start, Big Green Bookshop and Owen’s Food Store.

The week after, I had the great honour of being reselected as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Hornsey and Wood Green. There was a huge turnout, and it was so heart-warming when the great Lib Dem members of this constituency put their faith in me again. And what a bonus to have my political heroine Shirley Williams at the event, supporting me and giving a fantastic speech.

But there was no time for extended celebrations – the day after the reselection, the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg come to visit Highgate Wood, a school in the constituency.

Nick was here to see how the school is using its Pupil Premium money. The Pupil Premium is a Liberal Democrat flagship policy that is being delivered by the Coalition Government. It targets extra money to schools depending on the number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds they have.

Schools will receive £900 per eligible pupil. For Highgate Wood, this means a whopping £413,100 in extra funding for 2013/14.

Nick and me talking to Food Tech students!

Shortly after Nick’s visit – there was also good news about the Whittington Hospital. The Board released their revised strategy for the future of the hospital. They have u-turned on their plan to sell off buildings without consultation.

This is very welcome news. Whilst we recognise that some changes will have to be made to secure the future of the hospital – consulting with the public and protecting services is paramount. That’s why we launched a petition calling on the Whittington Board to consult local residents and guarantee that there will be no loss of services until equal or better were in place.

I’d like to thank all 3000 residents who signed the Lib Dem petition. Because of you, the Whittington Board agreed to the listening exercise and has consequently changed their plans.

This is why I’m so delighted to be reselected as the Lib Dem candidate for this area. I want to carry on campaigning with residents on the issues that matter – like Pinkham Way, the Whittington, and securing fairer funding for Haringey’s health and education services. I also want to run more competitions like the independent shops one – promoting and supporting our cherished local amenities.

And, I want to be in a position to keep implementing policies like the Pupil Premium – which is directly benefitting children in this area – and across the UK.

The road to the 2015 election starts here – and I will be keeping myself, and fellow Lib Dem activists and supporters, very busy!