On 7 May 2026, residents in the Ealing Broadway ward will vote to choose who represents them at Ealing Council.
EALING.NEWS has asked all candidates standing to become a councillor, 7 questions about who they are, what they hope to deliver and why they want residents to vote for them.
Here’s what Freya Summersgill, standing for Ealing Green Party in Ealing Broadway, has to say:
Tell us a bit about yourself, your priorities for the ward and why you want to be councillor for Ealing Broadway?
I am a working mum, youth volunteer, civil engineer and Ealing resident. I want to use my experiences and skills to support my community to thrive. Local councils shape so much of our daily lives, as a Green councillor I would bring a fresh perspective and practical problem solving skills to help deliver real meaningful change for our community. In Ealing Broadway, this means addressing housing issues, protecting our green spaces and ensuring our young people get the support they need.
Throughout this last decade I have led two community youth groups in Ealing Broadway where I have had the privilege to get to know many children, volunteers and their families. I was delighted that Ealing Greens invited me to stand in Ealing Broadway after my recent move back to Ealing before my eldest starts school this September.
What motivates you?
To leave the world better than I found it and be a positive influence for those around me. Creating a liveable world for my children, building them a community where they feel safe, supported and can thrive. To me this means fighting both for societal change that means people can succeed whatever their circumstances, as well as addressing the climate and biodiversity crises so we have a world for them to live in.
What is your own personal connection to either Ealing Broadway or any other part of the borough?
I’ve lived in and around Ealing for almost 20 years; moving to West Ealing after undergrad, to the Brentford/Ealing border when moving into our first house, and being able to move back to Ealing a year ago. We moved here for the commute, but stayed for the many parks (missing the countryside of my Kent childhood), the connection to my history (mother being originally from Norwood Green and my grandfather’s family from Chiswick), my commitments to volunteering twice a week in Ealing Broadway, the wonderful schools for my boys, and being further from the Heathrow runways.
What do you consider to be your 3 top political, work or personal achievements and what impact have they had?
Supporting the younger generation, through my regular volunteering, visiting schools to give STEM presentations, supporting work experience students and mentoring colleagues. It is a privilege to be a part of their journey and to see young people grow in confidence and succeed. A recent highlight was being invited to be a judge for the Rising Stars: Technical Excellence Award in the Inspiring Women in Construction and Engineering. It was a reminder of the importance of championing others and that small sustained efforts can make a huge difference long term, with some amazing women succeeding in engineering.
Working on sustainable construction practices through my work as a Civil Engineer, providing training, writing procedures and sharing knowledge around what is possible in terms of sustainability. Using this knowledge to help question and comment on construction projects in the local area to ensure they are built for the good of the community – as well as lean on developers to provide answers when they’re not. I started this work in Hounslow and look forward to using this experience for the benefit of Ealing residents.
My research work as part of my PhD in numerical methods and finite element modelling in civil engineering. Doing my small part to push the state of the art of foundation designs to be safer and more sustainable.
What do you consider to be the top 3 challenges Ealing Broadway faces and how will you as a councillor address them?
Housing – having rented in Ealing I’m very aware of the battles tenants can face against estate agents, landlords and how simple things like a slow response to repairs can cause strife.
Children’s services – children centres, libraries, support for care leavers. With a young family these services have been essential to me, and it’s frustrating how quickly they can be folded up when they are so key to a healthy community.
Travel – providing safe choices for travel of all modes. I’m a driver as well as a cyclist, walker, bus rider and train/tube user. I feel lucky to live in such a well connected place for public transport but I still find myself making choices about my safety that prevent me from using the method I want. Whether that is lack of continuous safe cycle routes, being unable to guarantee that the next bus will arrive promptly with space for a pram, not walking all the way because the state of the pavement and drop curbs makes pushing the pram difficult. That’s just the travel challenges from my own experience, the issues faced by people with reduced mobility are far worse.
As a councillor I can promise to be passionate, persistent and persuasive in addressing residents’ issues. As a civil engineer, my professional skills are in problem solving and collaboration, so I am the councillor that residents need to find and provide solutions to their problems.
What do you love about Ealing Broadway and the borough of Ealing?
I love the diversity which means my mixed family isn’t unusual and we get to experience a broad set of cultures (and foods) here. The many parks mean I have plenty of running routes, and my children can enjoy the outdoors. I love the welcoming atmosphere in Ealing. I’ve met so many wonderful mums and families at babies classes, made friends through volunteering and of course had the warmest of welcomes back to the Ealing Greens.
How accessible will you be to Ealing Broadway residents and how can they get in contact with you now and if elected how will you ensure you are accessible to them in the future?
I will have regular in person ward surgeries and be available by email in between. I will follow the examples of good practice that I have seen from existing green councillors who share a summary of their activities on social media and my father as a parish councillor and green party borough councillor in Maidstone sends out a monthly report. If people would like to contact me now, please use: https://ealing.greenparty.org.uk/contact/
Click here for all Ealing Broadway candidates standing.
Full coverage of the 2026 Ealing Council local elections and candidates standing can be found here.
