UKIP announces parliamentary candidate for Hackney South

Angus Small UKIP’s parliamentary candidate for Hackney South and Shoreditch.

Angus Small has been selected as UKIP’s Hackney South and Shoreditch candidate for the upcoming general election on Thursday 7 May.

He will challenge the incumbent, Labour MP Meg Hillier, who has held the seat since 2005.

Angus Small moved to Hackney from West London 15 years ago and lives in Dalston. He described the borough as an “extraordinary” area.

Small, who works as an accountant for the firm Financial Forensics, told the Hackney Citizen: “Hackney has a fantastic sense of opportunity and diversity. A member of my family who lives abroad says that Dalston is the coolest place in London.”

Before he was introduced to UKIP, Small explains, he was not a political person and had never been a member of any party.

Recently, however, he has become “increasingly concerned” about the existing political system. “I want to get involved in the political process locally to represent the constituents and help them get a better level of political representation,” he said.

“UKIP is a new party and what we are looking at is changing an existing system that has gone pretty stale. We are bringing a new angle.”

When asked about his main campaigning focus, Small said that the UK’s membership of the European Union was vital to the interests of the local community and that the party would fight to remove “the layer of decision making that operates outside of the UK.”

Small also mentioned housing, NHS funding and better schooling as important issues facing Hackney residents.

He said: “As a party UKIP is a force that is positive not negative, and at the highest level will bring power down to people who are accountable.”