Karen Alexander, Dominic Gibson & David Schmitz
Your Harringay 2026 Lib Dem Candidates
Our Priorities for Harringay
1) Crime & Policing
Because we all live here, we know about the robberies, the buying and selling of stolen goods in Finsbury Park, the phone thefts around Tunrpike Lane and the drug dealing in Harringay Passage. Parcel thefts from doorsteps are a new addition.
We will work with the members of the police Safer Neighbourhoods Team and our excellent residents’ associations.
The roadway between Harringay Gardens and Park Road needs to be “adopted” ie taken over by the Council, as it’s a place for fly-tipping and a breeding ground for anti-social behaviour. The same is true of the two mews off Turnpike Lane.
We will press for this to happen.
2) Preserving our High Streets
Boarded up high streets are soul destroying, and we don’t want that to happen here.
We’re lucky to have great businesses in Green Lanes, Turnpike Lane and Wightman Road, but these face many pressures. Dominic knows these challenges first-hand, and he has already taken the lead in our plan to channel traders’ concerns to Haringey Council.
The Council does not seem to know who has the power to put up CCTV cameras on Green Lanes to fight crime – hint it’s the Council itself. David will make sure that there is no buck-passing here.
3) Cost of Living and Housing
When landlords can get away with charging upwards of £2,000 a month for a grotty 2-bed flat, the “cost of living crisis” is more than empty words.
Fortunately, Parliament has at last passed the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 which is tilting the balance in favour of tenants. “Revenge evictions” of tenants who dare to complain will be a thing of the past.
The Council has a role to play in helping tenants assert their new rights. We will promote that role.
And we won’t spare the Council or housing associations where they fall down. There can be no excuses where they fail in their legal duties, and we won’t accept any.
Flouting of planning decisions can also make people’s lives a misery, and the Council’s use of its own enforcement powers is poor. The Council needs a kick and we’ll deliver that
About Us
Karen Alexander
Karen lives on Wightman Road, and served as a Lib Dem councillor here in Harringay from 2006 to 2014. She was a tireless member of the Council’s scrutiny committee, and was the leading voice in getting the speed limit on Wightman Road reduced to 20 mph.
She worked for years on the Green Lanes Strategy Group, which oversaw permanent improvements, as well as two food festivals which drew people from all over London.
She managed all this while working for a city law firm, serving as a school governor, and raising her two children with her husband Mark.
Dominic Gibson
The newest member of our team, Dominic has been living on Fairfax Road for almost his entire life.
Dominic runs a Pub and a Restaurant in the East End and brings valuable experience of the world of small businesses. He can tell what is needed to help small business to thrive rather than leave, and at the same time he has a clear idea of what residents are entitled to expect from them.
Dominic is also a carer, and from his frequent dealings with health services, he can make a valuable contribution to the scrutiny, which it is the Council’s duty to carry out.
David Schmitz
David has lived on Falkland Road for almost 40 years. He’s a barrister and has also previously served as a Lib Dem councillor here in Harringay ward.
He made use of his legal skills on the planning committee, but mostly he threw himself into all things Harringay Ward, from getting a flooded road drained one Christmas day, to chasing council property repairs, to badgering London & Quadrant to deal with fly tipping in Denmark Road, to taking up the cause of a child who had been made to spend the night in lodgings which the Council knew to be unsafe.
After seeing a child struck by a car, he led a successful campaign to install the pedestrian crossing at Falkland Road and Green Lanes.
David has run multiple marathons for local charities and served as a school governor. He and his partner Valerie have two teenage children, who’ve both attended local schools.
More...
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