Chris Le Breton

The May 2005 General Election result in Greenwich & Woolwich

Chris Le Breton was born in Kitale, Kenya in 1964. He then lived in Zambia, England, Hungary, Anguilla, Kenya, and The Gambia, schooling in England. He was educated at Sussex University (School of African and Asian Studies), and holds a Masters in Agricultural Economics (specialising in Environmental issues) from Wye College - University of London. Clinching his first job after University, as a trainee commodity trader in the City of London, in 1987, he made his home in Greenwich, and commuted into work on his mountain-bike.

After cycling solo over the Indian Himalayas in 1988, he left the City, worked as a bicycle courier, for Friends of the Earth, and the London Cycling Campaign, then did his Masters, and afterwards went to Brussels to do a traineeship in the European Commission's Asian unit, where he also perfected his French as well.. After two years as a project manager in Braunschweig, Germany, learning German too, he returned to the European Commission in Brussels as the first officer in charge of EC environmental policy and projects in the former Soviet Union. During the next 3 years, he spearheaded the creation of the new Regional Environmental Centres there, including conceiving of a Caucasus centre, based in Tbilisi. He also brokered agreement between the World Bank, United Nations and European Commission to set up the international environmental programme for the Caspian Sea, and represented the European Commission at numerous international meetings. After completing three years inside the Commission, he studied Russian in St. Petersburg, before returning to Brussels as the Executive Director of the international secretariat of GLOBE - Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment. Facilitating action amongst parliamentarians around the world, and fostering closer links with other stakeholder groups, he was present at the Kyoto climate change talks, UNEP Governing Council, and other environmental meetings around the world. From 1998, he worked as a consultant in China, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, and Moldova. Presently he is a part time environmental adviser for the European Union to the Government of Serbia. Currently single, his is still a passionate cyclist, and loves sculling, running, and swimming.

Since January 2005, Chris Le Breton has been the Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary candidate for Greenwich and Woolwich constituency. Previously, he stood as a candidate for Greenwich Council in the Trafalgar by-election in 1999, cutting Labour's lead, and in the Eltham South council election in 2002, losing by about 50 votes.

He is passionate about Greenwich too - not just walking in its park, cycling along the river, or enjoying the covered market. It is also the diversity of people: those who have lived all their lives in the borough, to those who now live in the constituency but originate from other parts of the world.

One area of most interest to him is to resolve the transport congestion at the heart of Greenwich town centre - devastating the "English Versailles" as somebody once called the heart of Greenwich. He would like to see more cycle routes so that people can cycle safely, without having to joust with juggernauts, and negotiate roundabouts and junctions designed for the car. This would require such well-designed buildings that people would want to give up their car to move there (and use a car club when 4 wheels are essential). He would like to see the 108 bus adapted to take bikes through the Blackwall tunnel. He believes that it would be monumentally short-sighted not to put a station on Crossrail at Woolwich. Indeed the planned growth of Thames Gateway needs to be balanced with serious long term thinking about tube lines, bus routes, tram lines, and bicycle paths. For London's strategic future in the world, depends upon modernising its transport to standards comparable to Shanghai and Singapore, for instance.

Some of Chris' local achievements

• Forming a group with local residents to reclaim his street against dangerous drivers;
• Getting improved bicycling facilities in and around Greenwich
• Arguing for an environmentally-friendly village near the Dome
• Getting traders in East Greenwich to club together to revitalise the area, and make it dynamic and creative.

He says "It would be a privilege and honour to serve my fellow residents, and become the member of parliament for Greenwich and Woolwich, to make the area the pre-eminent, desirable place to live and work south of the river." He would like to see greater practical implementation elsewhere of the energy efficiencies, achieved in the initial Greenwich Millennium village.

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