Siobhan Benita
Siobhan Benita (' Pook; born 11 October 1971) is a British former civil servant. She was an independent candidate in the 2012 London mayoral election. She was then the Liberal Democrat candidate in the London mayoral election originally planned for 2020, but after the election was delayed to 2021, she withdrew as the candidate. Early life and education Benita was born Siobhan Pook on 11 October 1971 in Wimbledon, London, and grew up in the borough of Merton.Ross, MatInterview: Siobhan Benita", Civil Service World interview, 27 January 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-13. Her Anglo-Indian mother came to London in 1959, and worked as a home help and auxiliary nurse.About Siobhan Benita , Official Siobhan Benita website for the 2012 London Mayoral election, Retrieved 2012-03-13. Benita's father ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Dundonald, Hillside, Trinity, Village, Raynes Park and Wimbledon Park. It is home to the Wimbledon Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas of common land in London. The residential and retail area is split into two sections known as the "village" and the "town", with the High Street being the rebuilding of the original medieval village, and the "town" having first developed gradually after the building of the railway station in 1838. Wimbledon has been inhabited since at least the Iron Age when the hill fort on Wimbledon Common is thought to have been constructed. In 1086 when the Domesday Book was compiled, Wimbledon was part of the manor of Mortlake. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Civil Service (United Kingdom)
His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as two of the three devolved administrations: the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, but not the Northern Ireland Executive. As in other states that employ the Westminster political system, His Majesty's Home Civil Service forms an inseparable part of the British government. The executive decisions of government ministers are implemented by HM Civil Service. Civil servants are employees of the Crown and not of the British parliament. Civil servants also have some traditional and statutory responsibilities which to some extent protect them from being used for the political advantage of the party ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Drug Liberalization
Drug liberalization is a drug policy process of decriminalizing or legalizing the use or sale of prohibited drugs. Variations of drug liberalization include: drug legalization, drug re-legalization and drug decriminalization. Proponents of drug liberalization may favor a regulatory regime for the production, marketing, and distribution of some or all currently illegal drugs in a manner analogous to that for alcohol, caffeine and tobacco. Proponents of drug liberalization argue that the legalization of drugs would eradicate the illegal drug market and reduce the law enforcement costs and incarceration rates. They frequently argue that prohibition of recreational drugs—such as cannabis, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines and hallucinogens—has been ineffective and counterproductive and that substance use is better responded to by implementing practices for harm reduction and increasing the availability of addiction treatment. Additionally, they argue that relative harm should be ta ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Homelessness In England
In England, local authorities have duties to homeless people under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002. There are five hurdles which a homeless person must overcome in order to qualify as statutory homeless. If an applicant only meets the first three of these tests Councils still have a duty to provide interim accommodation. However an applicant must satisfy all five for a Council to have to give an applicant "reasonable preference" on the social housing register. Even if a person passes these five tests councils have the ability to use the private rented sector to end their duty to a homeless person. The five tests are: *Is the applicant homeless or threatened with homelessness? *Is the applicant eligible for assistance? *Is the applicant priority need? *Is the applicant intentionally homeless? *Does the applicant have a local connection? The annual number of homeless households in England peaked in 2003–04 at 135,420 before falling ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oyster Card
The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport for London (TfL) and can be used on travel modes across London including London Buses, London Underground, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Overground, Tramlink, some river boat services, and most National Rail services within the London fare zones. Since its introduction in June 2003, more than 86 million cards have been used. Oyster cards can hold period tickets; travel permits and; most commonly, credit for travel ("Pay as you go"), which must be added to the card before travel. Passengers touch it on an electronic reader when entering and leaving the transport system in order to validate it and deduct funds from the stored credit. Cards may be "topped-up" by continuous payment authority, by online purchase, at credit card t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2020 London Mayoral Election
The 2021 London mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of London. It was held simultaneously with elections for the London Assembly, other local elections across England and Wales, and devolved elections in Scotland and Wales. The mayoral and Assembly elections were to be held on 7 May 2020, but in March 2020 the government announced the election would be postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sadiq Khan was re-selected as the Labour candidate in 2018, the Conservative Party selected Shaun Bailey and the Green Party chose Siân Berry. Rory Stewart, a former Conservative MP and minister, ran as an independent before withdrawing due to the delay in the election. Siobhan Benita, who had been the Liberal Democrat candidate, also withdrew after the election delay. She was replaced as the party's candidate by Luisa Porritt. Twenty candidates appeared on the ballot, more than in any previous election for the position. Sadiq Khan of the Labour Pa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2016 United Kingdom European Union Membership Referendum
The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country should remain a member of, or leave, the European Union (EU). It was organised and facilitated through the European Union Referendum Act 2015 and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The referendum resulted in 51.9% of the votes cast being in favour of leaving the EU. Although the referendum was legally non-binding, the government of the time promised to implement the result. Membership of the EU had long been a topic of debate in the United Kingdom. The country joined the European Communities (EC), principally the European Economic Community (EEC) or Common Market, the forerunner to the European Union, in 1973, along with the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Eu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2016 London Mayoral Election
The 2016 London mayoral election was held on 5 May 2016 to elect the Mayor of London, on the same day as the London Assembly election. It was the fifth election to the position of mayor, which was created in 2000 after a referendum in Greater London. The election used a supplementary vote system. The election was won by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting, Sadiq Khan, a member of the Labour Party, who polled 56.8% of the votes in the head-to-head second round of voting over the MP for Richmond Park, Zac Goldsmith, a member of the Conservative Party. Goldsmith was more than 25% ahead of the next candidate in the first round of voting, as part of a record field of twelve candidates. Of the twelve candidates only Khan, Goldsmith, and Green Party candidate Siân Berry achieved the requisite 5% minimum first round vote share to retain their deposit. This was the first election to not feature either of the two previous holders of the office, Ken Livingstone and Boris Joh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brian Paddick
Brian Leonard Paddick, Baron Paddick (born 24 April 1958), is a British politician and retired police officer, currently sitting in the House of Lords as a life peer. He was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the London mayoral elections of 2008 and 2012. He was, until his retirement in May 2007, Deputy Assistant Commissioner in London's Metropolitan Police Service. Paddick joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1976. Rising through the ranks, he was appointed the officer in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Notting Hill in 1995, then returned to New Scotland Yard, first as Superintendent of the Personnel Department in 1996 and then as Chief Superintendent in 1997. In December 2000 he was appointed Police Commander for the London Borough of Lambeth, where he worked until 2002. In the latter capacity, Paddick attracted controversy by instructing his police officers not to arrest or charge people found with cannabis so that they could focus on crime ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Department Of Health (United Kingdom)
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Northern Ireland Executive. It oversees the English National Health Service (NHS). The department is led by the secretary of state for health and social care with three ministers of state and three parliamentary under-secretaries of state. The department develops policies and guidelines to improve the quality of care and to meet patient expectations. It carries out some of its work through arms-length bodies (ALBs), including executive non-departmental public bodies such as NHS England and the NHS Digital, and executive agencies such as the UK Health Security Agency and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The DHSC also manages the work of the Nation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dods (Group) PLC
Merit Group plc is a British publishing holding company founded in 2001. It is company number 04267888. Its largest shareholder is the Conservative politician and businessman Lord Michael Ashcroft. It was formerly known as Huveaux plc (from 2001 to 2010) and then as Dods Group plc (2010–2021). Its ordinary shares are listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. Subsidiaries A subsidiary, Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd, publishes ''The House Magazine'', a fortnightly publication for peers and MPs in Westminster; the annual ''Dod's Parliamentary Companion''; and ''The Parliament Magazine'', aimed at Members of the European Parliament. Publication of ''Dods Parliamentary Companion'' began in 1832. The company acquired the ''PoliticsHome'' website from Lord Ashcroft in 2011, and in 2012 bought Biteback Media Ltd, publisher of ''Total Politics ''Total Politics'' is a British political magazine described as "a lifestyle magazine for the p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Civil Service Live
Civil Service Live is a series of events in the United Kingdom designed to share best practice, promote innovation and drive collaboration across all government departments and agencies across the Civil Service. Overview It was launched by the Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell and Kevin Sorkin at Civil Service World in April 2008. The national event has featured high-profile speakers (including Peter Jones from Dragons Den), workshops, an innovation space, a civil service history museum and other exciting content. In addition to the national event in London, Civil Service Live stages a number of regional events across the country, the first of these was Gateshead in 2009 and events have also taken place in Manchester and Belfast. The London venue moved to London Olympia in 2010, swiftly followed the general election and provided a platform for the prime minister, deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minist ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |