Dragon Interview: Labour Candidate Sarah Gillinson

Published on: 12 Jun, 2024
Updated on: 15 Jun, 2024

Which candidate will you choose to support on July 4th?

Many of you might have already made up your minds but do you really know what the various candidates think about topical issues and concerns of the day?

To help your evaluation Dragon editor Martin Giles has interviewed each of the candidates in some depth to get their thoughts on five subjects. Similar questions were posed to each to help facilitate comparison. See what you make of their performances and policies…

The interviews were all recorded between June 7 and June 11. The sequence of publication was drawn by lot.

The second interview is with the Labour candidate Sarah Gillinson…

Sarah Gillinson’s summary cv, as written by her at The Dragon’s request:

I’ve spent my life fighting to build a society in which everyone can contribute and flourish.

For the past 15 years I’ve led an organisation that helps people to transform public services, making a difference to many thousands of lives. I have learnt to understand problems from different perspectives, and value the ideas of local people.

I was previously director of Strategy for the New York Public Library system. I am a governor of the Museum of London, and mum to two wonderful boys.

As your Labour MP I will bring passion, commitment and experience to lead lasting change in Guildford.

All Guildford Constituency candidate interviews have now been published and can be found here.

Responses to Dragon Interview: Labour Candidate Sarah Gillinson

Jim Allen Reply

June 12, 2024 at 9:18 pm

I recently observed a response that exhibited a high level of sophistication, akin to the questioning style employed in the United States Senate.

However, the substance of the response was lacking, with a significant amount of irrelevant information and no concrete answers. The Ms Gillinson referred to the Gosden Hill development and introduced a new term, “grey land,” without providing any clarification.

Furthermore, she evaded direct questions by simply repeating them, demonstrating a lack of preparedness and inability to address the concerns raised. The response was characterized by vague promises that seemed unrealistic and impractical.
John Oliver Reply

June 18, 2024 at 1:25 pm

I arrived at this page to find out more about Sarah Gillinson, as the leaflet pushed through my door this morning didn’t tell me where she lives or why she avoided saying where she works (though she mentions her previous employers’ names).

For the record, she works for a social enterprise called ‘Innovation Unit’. She was its chief executive until she stepped down to director level for the purposes of the general election.

The “Notice of Election” on the GBC website states that she lives in an “address in Cities of London and Westminster”. This would explain why the interview stuttered whenever Martin Giles’ questions focussed directly on very local Guildford issues. Whilst clearly a competent person, I’m left wondering whether she really will have a commitment to Guildford or simply disappear into the Westminster bubble.
Glenys Palmer Reply

June 22, 2024 at 11:48 pm

It didn’t tell me anything about her background – career etc. She mentions she worked in New, York so I wondered at first if she was a US citizen.