Councillor Juliet Solomon

I was born and brought up in South West London, in what is now called a one-parent family (father, after the early death of my mother).  I worked as a secretary after I left school, then got bored and went to University where I ended up with a basic knowledge of Russian and a degree in Economics.  I taught economics and a number of other subjects on an off in schools ( including teaching typing and  office practice in Inner London comprehensives) and the Working Men’s College, and ran an adult education centre in a South Yorkshire coalmining town. As well as writing my first book at that time, I wrote reviews and articles for the Times Educational Supplement.  My last teaching was at London Met University, where I taught and researched for 16 years.

When my children were small I was a peripatetic cello teacher in Barnet.  Travelling endlessly from school to school, and my considerable long-term interest in the environment, led to transport research and qualification; most notably, I did a large piece of research for the Mobility Unit at the DfT on “Social Exclusion and the provision and availability of public transport”.  I was involved in quite a lot of transport consultancy for local authorities, and a major research project about accessibility. 

I have written three published books; “Making Sense of Economics” (with Ross Chapman, Fontana, 1974) – the book we both wanted to help us teach;   “Holding the Reins; parents, children and nannies in their search for domestic salvation” (Fontana 1887) inspired by what I then thought was the exploitation of nannies; and “Green Parenting”, (Macdonald Optima 1990) which was one of the Top Ten Green Books of 1990 and did what it said on the label.

I am interested in improving the daily quality of life for all people.  To this end I have been involved in local campaigning for years, some of it with the Friends of the Earth, some with the Junior Friends of the Earth which I got started, a great deal with Stepp (Safeguard the Environment of the (Alexandra Park and Palace), for whom I raised a major Objection to the Council’s accounts, as well as various bits of transport campaigning. I was a member of the Labour Party for many years, but left in the 1980s, travelling briefly via the Greens to the Liberal Democrats, where I have been since 1993.   I am involved with several local resident groups, but most importantly with the Society of Friends (Quakers) of which I am a regularly attending Member.