London Citizens are the contingent of Citizens UK based in London. Citizens UK describe themselves as the "home of community organising in the UK", seeing their work as democracy in action – for example, holding politicians and other decision makers to account. Mayoral Assemblies are part of this process.
In 2016 they held their fifth Mayoral Accountability Assembly which included 6,000 Londoners. At the event they launched their Citizens' Manifesto for London which focused on solutions to the housing crisis, as well as proposals on the Living Wage, Good Jobs and New Communities – all developed through community organising. The aim of the Assembly was to secure public commitments from the Mayoral candidates on these issues and to build a relationship with the next Mayor.
Having run a listening campaign for 12 months in the lead up to the Assembly, London Citizens asked the mayoral candidates to a series of asks they had produced around the issues. The listening campaign involved conversations with tens of thousands of people, over 220 faith institutions, workplaces, community associations and educational establishments.
Since the mayoral election, London Citizens have met with the mayor to ensure he is keeping to the pledges made at the Accountability Assembly. They have arranged several meeting with the Deputy Mayors to discuss policing, housing and social integration. Through these meetings, residents who are part of local London Citizens groups can participate in holding the mayor to account on an ongoing basis.
Lessons learned:
- Through listening campaigns, community organisers can provide policy suggestions which reflect the experiences of a large number of local individuals and organisations on key issues related to devolution such as housing and employability.
- Local leaders, especially mayors, can increase their legitimacy by attending accountability assemblies and other exercises in scrutiny run by community organisers.
- Regularly attending community organiser events can help establish a key relationship between stakeholders in the community and politicians.