Cllr Steve Sankey
Steve Sankey
East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray
Orkney Council
Steve has lived on South Ronaldsay in Orkney for almost 20 years with his wife Sarah and son Sami, after re-locating from Edinburgh to start a family and begin two small businesses: Gerraquoy Organic Farm and Orcadian Wildlife. In May 2017 he was elected to Orkney Islands Council, and was the first mainstream political party candidate ever to be elected there – all other 20 Councillors are Independent. Steve now sits on over 20 committees, and for example is Vice-Chairman of the Orkney Health and Care Committee, and a voting member of the Integration Joint Board. Successes to date with the help of Parliamentary colleagues have included winning an extra £5.5 million for fair-ferry funding for Orkney; persuading OIC to adopt the UN Principles of Responsible Investment for its Pension Fund; and succeeding in the appointment of a Climate Change Officer within Orkney Islands Council.
Steve was also instrumental in the declaration of a Climate Change Emergency by Orkney Islands Council in May 2019, and is looking forward to being closely involved in agreeing exactly what detailed carbon-reduction actions this might generate in the immediate future.