In conversation with Natalie Campbell
At The Know, we’re committed to raising the profile of women working to bring about positive change in business and in public life. This week, we caught up with Natalie Campbell MBE, an award-winning social entrepreneur born in Hammersmith and raised in North West London.
In 2020, Natalie was appointed the Co-CEO at Belu, a carbon-neutral water company that donates 100% of its net profits to WaterAid. To date, Belu has invested over £5.8 million in bringing clean water, decent toilets and hygiene education to the world’s poorest communities.
Natalie is also running as an independent candidate in this year’s London Mayoral Election.
When I caught up with Natalie, the first thing I wanted to know was perhaps the most obvious: what made her decide to pivot from a successful career in business to one in politics? As Natalie explained, it’s all to do with wanting to make sure that London’s children are nurtured and encouraged to thrive in the same way that she was:
“Growing up working class in North West London, I never questioned whether or not I deserved to ‘succeed’. I always had a hot meal and a warm bed, and my basic needs were consistently met. These two things built the foundation that helped my sense of agency grow - I could look out, visualise my future life and know that I deserved a place in the world.
“Sadly, this positive way of thinking has become a luxury for so many children across the city - and that’s why I’m running for Mayor of London.”
Natalie points to statistics showing that there is now at least one homeless child in every London classroom. “That’s around 85,000 young people who may never reach their potential because they’ve been victims of long-term homelessness, knife crime or poor health.”
But why does she think that standing as an independent is the best way to achieve that? “Because the party system is broken. You have to put the party and party donors before the people voting for you - just look at what happened with Brexit!”
For the first time ever, on 2nd May, Londoners will vote for their mayor using the first-past-the-post system - meaning they’ll only get to cast one vote. I asked Natalie what she’d say to people who believe there isn’t much point voting for an independent candidate. “We get the politics and politicians we vote for. If we want safe streets, better standards of living and a focus on the environment, we can use our vote to make it clear,” she said.
“Turning out to vote is especially important if you’re a woman - let’s not make it easy for parties to say that it’s not worth creating policies for us!”
“Running for Mayor is the hardest thing I’ve ever done - but it’s also so rewarding,” she added. “I get a huge amount of joy from feeling like I’m making a difference for others - and it’s fun challenging old styles of leadership! People message me saying things like, ‘I just got my polling card and I’m excited to vote for the first time’ - and that’s what this is all about.”
On a more serious note, Natalie pointed to the fact that the electoral process is much harder for independent candidates than for party candidates - and, crucially, a lot less safe. She is required to publish her address publicly, something which local democracy campaigners say deters women from standing.
They want the government to change the law - and needless to say, Natalie agrees. “It would encourage so many more women candidates to feel safe running.”
Looking ahead to the general election, Natalie reckons that we’ll see a rise in independent candidates - especially women and people of colour - who feel that the current political class doesn’t represent them. She tells me that she’ll be pulling together her advice for any candidates looking to run as independents and sharing it on her socials - once she’s had a nap on 3rd may, of course.
Local elections are taking place across England on 2nd May and the deadline to register to vote is 11:59pm on 16 April 2024. You can do so here - and remember to bring your photo ID to a polling station on the day.