Cllr Donna Boffa - a tribute

The sad death of Cllr Donna Boffa on Friday, following a long illness, is one of those moments when we are reminded of the dedication of all those who take time out of their own busy lives to serve their community. It is a time to pay tribute to all those who work tirelessly for others, as Donna did.

We are about to start the election campaign which will decide who runs Islington for the next four years. Candidates from all parties will try to highlight their own party's achievements and claim credit for the things that are going right in Islington, while attempting not to recognise the contribution made by activists from other parties. But underneath the confrontational facade that is electoral politics in Britain, there will be over 200 individuals offering themselves to their community to spend four years as their representatives in the Council chamber.

Most of those individuals will not be elected, but many of them will continue to work for their communities - day in, day out - as Donna Boffa did for years before she became a councillor. As we begin this election campaign, let's take a moment to remember Donna and to celebrate the commitment that she made and hundreds of others continue to make to communities across Islington.