Sarah Sackman

https://www.labour.org.uk/finchley--golders-green-sarah-sackman

Finchley & Golders Green, Sarah Sackman

Sarah is a public interest barrister, community campaigner, and Labour's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Finchley and Golders Green.

She grew up in East Finchley with her parents and two sisters. She was raised with a strong sense of social justice which drove her to become an activist, a barrister and community campaigner. She read History at Cambridge and completed a Masters at Harvard Law School. Sarah now works as a barrister specialising in public, planning and environmental law representing individuals, NGOs and public bodies. She teaches a course on urban politics and law at the LSE and for many years has volunteered at Toynbee Hall, giving free legal advice and support to vulnerable Londoners.

In 2012, when Barnet Council decided to shut and demolish Friern Barnet library, she advised the community group which fought that decision. Sarah represented the community group, won the case, and today the library is open for the community and has served as a model to other community-run libraries around the country. That experience showed her what people can do when they come together, and cemented her decision to stand and try to bring that spirit into politics.