Janani (Jan) Jananayagam (Tamil: ஜனனி (ஜான்) ஜனநாயகம்) is a British Tamil banking professional, activist and politician. She was an independent candidate for the London region in the 2009 European Parliamentary elections.[3]

Janani Jananayagam
Personal details
BornJaffna, Sri Lanka[1]
NationalityBritish
Political partyIndependent
ResidenceLondon[2]
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Imperial College London
INSEAD
OccupationProject Manager
Websitehttp://vote4jan.org/beta/

Early life

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Jan was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka but spent most of her youth in Nigeria and Zambia where her parents were teachers.[1] Later she and her parents emigrated to the United Kingdom.[4] She studied at the University of Manchester and graduated with distinction in computing and information systems. She later received a master's degree in applied mathematics from Imperial College London and a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD business school.[5][6]

Professional career

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After a period in computing research and development Jan moved into the banking industry. She currently works in the London and German offices of a leading Italian bank as a project manager. She is involved in the setting up of e-commerce ventures.[7] Jananayagam has written columns in the Tamil Guardian that focused on Sri Lanka's treatment of Tamils.

European Parliament candidate

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Jan stood as an independent candidate for the London region in the 2009 European Parliamentary elections. She did not win a seat, but garnered 2.86% of the vote.[8] The main policies on which she campaigned on were:[9]

  • Civil rights and individual freedom
  • Financial transparency and effective regulation
  • Equality and diversity
  • Small businesses and entrepreneurship
  • Ethical foreign policy
  • Animal welfare

She campaigned against the British National Party.[10]

She had been endorsed by the Oscar-nominated musician Maya Arulpragasam (MIA).[1] MIA started an online campaign in support of Jan and offered a free song.[1]

Despite winning many votes for an Independent, she did not win a seat against competitive parties. Jan came 8th out of the 19 parties/independents contesting London after receiving 50,014 votes (2.86%).[11] This was more than the combined vote for all other independent candidates across the whole of the UK.[12] Her £5000 deposit was returned, as she got more than the 2.5% threshold in the vote.[8]

Votes received by Jan for each London borough:

Borough Votes % Pos Borough Votes % Pos Borough Votes % Pos
Barking and Dagenham[13] 386 1.08% 10th Hammersmith & Fulham[14] 140 0.35% 13th Lewisham[15] 1,992 3.76% 8th
Barnet[16] 1,234 1.51% 8th Haringey Newham[17] 3,520 7.40% 3rd
Bexley[18] 378 0.62% 11th Harrow[19] 6,856 11.00% 3rd Redbridge[20] 4,910 7.81% 6th
Brent[21] 4,867 8.33% 5th Havering[22] 203 0.33% 13th Richmond upon Thames[23] 147 0.28% 13th
Bromley[24] 619 0.71% 9th Hillingdon[25] 2,433 3.96% 7th Southwark[26] 163 0.30% 13th
Camden[27] 121 0.26% 15th Hounslow[28] 1,054 2.09% 8th Sutton[29] 1,664 3.40% 7th
Croydon[30] 3,128 3.87% 8th Islington[31] 128 0.30% 15th Tower Hamlets[32] 109 0.24% 16th
Ealing[33] 4,716 6.51% 6th Kensington & Chelsea[34] 70 0.26% 15th Waltham Forest[35] 1,493 2.86% 8th
Enfield[36] 1,194 1.83% 8th Kingston upon Thames[37] 2,150 5.16% 6th Wandsworth[38] 928 1.35% 8th
Greenwich[39] 773 1.53% 9th Lambeth[40] 176 0.31% 14th Westminster[41] 100 0.27% 16th
Hackney Merton[42] 3,960 7.95% 6th City of London[43] 4 0.19% =14th

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "MIA's endorsement expected to boost Jananayagam's MEP prospects". TamilNet. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  2. ^ "Official list and contact details" (PDF). UK Office of the European Parliament. Retrieved 4 June 2009.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Candidates". UK Office of the European Parliament. Archived from the original on 10 May 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  4. ^ "British Tamil contests seat for European Parliament". TamilNet. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  5. ^ "Potent Tamil voice for European Parliament". TamilNet. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  6. ^ "INSEAD hails TAG co-founder Jananayagam | Tamil Guardian".
  7. ^ "Tamil campaigner Euro vote boost". BBC. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  8. ^ a b "Independents in European Elections | Independent Network". Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  9. ^ "Policies". Vote4Kan. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  10. ^ "Election Manifesto" (PDF). TamilNet. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  11. ^ "European Election 2009: London". BBC News. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  12. ^ "European Election 2009: UK Results". BBC News. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  13. ^ "European Parliamentary Election Results". London Borough of Barking & Dagenham. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  14. ^ "Hammersmith & Fulham declaration" (PDF). London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  15. ^ "Lewisham Council – Documents – European Parliamentary Election 4 June 2009". London Borough of Lewisham. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
  16. ^ "Barnet declaration" (PDF). London Borough of Barnet. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  17. ^ "European Parliamentary Election results 2009". Newham Council. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  18. ^ "Bexley declaration" (PDF). London Borough of Bexley. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  19. ^ "European Parliamentary Election – Thursday 4th June 2009". Harrow Council. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  20. ^ "European Election results". Redbridge i. Retrieved 9 June 2009.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ "Election results for Brent". Brent Council. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  22. ^ "Euro Election Results". Havering Council. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  23. ^ "Richmond upon Thames declaration" (PDF). London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  24. ^ "European Parliamentary Election 4 June 2009 – result of poll for the local counting area of Bromley". London Borough of Bromley. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  25. ^ "Hillingdon declaration" (PDF). London Borough of Hillingdon. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  26. ^ "Southwark declaration" (PDF). London Borough of Southwark. Retrieved 9 June 2009. [dead link]
  27. ^ "European Parliamentary election results". Camden Council. Archived from the original on 5 September 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  28. ^ "Hounslow declaration" (PDF). London Borough of Hounslow. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  29. ^ "Election and other news". London Borough of Sutton. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  30. ^ "Croydon declaration" (PDF). Croydon Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  31. ^ "European Parliamentary Election 2009". Islington Council. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  32. ^ "Results of the European Parliament Election for Tower Hamlets on June 4 2009". Tower Hamlets Council. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  33. ^ "European Elections 2009". Ealing Council. Archived from the original on 10 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  34. ^ "European Parliamentary Elections on 4 June 2009". Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Archived from the original on 13 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  35. ^ "European election results". Waltham Forest Council. Archived from the original on 30 May 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  36. ^ "Enfield declaration" (PDF). Enfield Council. Retrieved 9 June 2009. [dead link]
  37. ^ "European Parliamentary Election 2009 – Results". Royal Kingston. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  38. ^ "Wandsworth declaration" (PDF). Wandsworth Borough Council. Retrieved 9 June 2009.[permanent dead link]
  39. ^ "Greenwich declaration" (PDF). Greenwich Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  40. ^ "Lambeth declaration" (PDF). Lambeth Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  41. ^ "Westminster declaration". Westminster City Council. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  42. ^ "Merton declaration" (PDF). Merton Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  43. ^ "City of London declaration". Westminster City Council. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
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