Larry Sanders (politician)
Larry Sanders (politician)
Larry Sanders | |
---|---|
Green Party Spokesperson for Health | |
Assumed office 11 February 2016 | |
Leader |
|
Preceded by | Jillian Creasy |
Member of the Oxfordshire County Council | |
In office 2005–2013 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Lawrence Sanders (1935-04-29)29 April 1935 New York City, New York, U.S. |
Political party | Labour(Before 2001) Green(2001–present) |
Other political affiliations | Democratic (U.S.) |
Spouse(s) | Margaret(died 1983) |
Domestic partner | Janet Hall(since 1998) |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Bernie Sanders(brother) |
Education | City University of New York,
Brooklyn(BA) Harvard University(JD) University of Oxford(MSW) |
Lawrence Sanders (born 29 April 1935)[1][2] is an American-born British academic, social worker, and Health Spokesperson of the Green Party of England and Wales. Sanders is the older brother of United States Senator and two-time presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
Larry Sanders | |
---|---|
Green Party Spokesperson for Health | |
Assumed office 11 February 2016 | |
Leader |
|
Preceded by | Jillian Creasy |
Member of the Oxfordshire County Council | |
In office 2005–2013 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Lawrence Sanders (1935-04-29)29 April 1935 New York City, New York, U.S. |
Political party | Labour(Before 2001) Green(2001–present) |
Other political affiliations | Democratic (U.S.) |
Spouse(s) | Margaret(died 1983) |
Domestic partner | Janet Hall(since 1998) |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Bernie Sanders(brother) |
Education | City University of New York,
Brooklyn(BA) Harvard University(JD) University of Oxford(MSW) |
Early life, education, and family
Larry Sanders was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Dorothy (née Glassberg) and Eli Sanders.[3][4] Sanders' father was a Jewish immigrant whose family was killed in the Holocaust,[3][5][6] while his mother was born in New York City, to Jewish immigrant parents, on 2 October 1912.[7][8][9] His father Eli – born in Słopnice, Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of modern-day Poland) on 19 September 1904[10] – emigrated from his birthplace to America in 1921 aged 17,[11][12] and supported his family by selling paint.[13] Sanders describes his childhood as his family never lacking for food or clothing, but major purchases, "like curtains or a rug", being difficult to afford.[13] Sanders' mother died in June 1959 at the age of 46.[6] Sanders' father later died on 4 August 1962, at the age of 57.[10] Both he and his younger brother attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn.[14] Sanders described both of them as post-World War II, young Jewish radicals, but were part of the crowd, not yet leaders.[15]
Sanders attended Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and obtained a master's degree in social work from the University of Oxford.[16] After dropping out of Harvard Law School to take care of his mother, he returned 35 years later to complete his J.D.[17]
His son, Jacob Edward "Jake" Sanders (born 26 November 1968), was elected to Oxford City Council in 2000, and was a Green Party parliamentary candidate in the Oxford East constituency at the 2005 general election.
Political career
Sanders was active in the Labour Party in Oxford in the 1980s.[21] He left the Labour Party in 2001 because he felt that it had moved too far to the right under the leadership of Tony Blair, and defected to the Green Party as a result.[17]
First elected in 2005, Sanders was a Green Party county councillor representing the East Oxford division in the Oxfordshire County Council, until he retired from the Council in 2013.[22][23] His main focuses in county politics were social and health care services. He resigned from the board of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust in October 2005 in a principled stand amid concerns that proposed cuts to services would leave vulnerable patients at greater risk.
He became Chairman of the Oxford Community School's Board of Governors in September 2009, following the resignation of the previous chairman, Chris Ballinger, and six other board members.[24] In December of the same year, the Department for Children, Schools and Families approved an application by Oxfordshire County Council to disband the Board of Governors and replace them with an interim executive board. On hearing the decision, Sanders stated that he was "dreadfully disappointed".[25]
In February 2016, he was appointed Health Spokesperson of the Green Party of England and Wales.[27]
Sanders was elected as a pledged delegate for Bernie Sanders to the 2016 Democratic National Convention at the Democrats Abroad Global Convention in Berlin in May 2016. He tearfully spoke at the convention on 26 July of his intention to cast his vote for his brother.[28]
Sanders was selected as the Green Party candidate for the Witney by-election following former Prime Minister David Cameron's resignation as an MP in September 2016.[29] He finished in fourth place with 1,363 votes (3.54%).[30] Sanders was selected to contest the Oxford East constituency at the 2017 snap general election. However, he was not elected, and finished in fourth place with 1,785 votes and a 3.3% share of the vote.[31]