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Next Prime Minister 'must prioritise Grenfell Tower', say campaigners

Getty Images Grenfell TowerGetty Images
Seventy-two people died when the blaze broke out in the 24-storey block of flats in North Kensington just before 01:00 BST on 14 June 2017

Grenfell Tower campaigners have urged the next prime minister to be "on the right side of history" ahead of the second anniversary of the fire.

Theresa May's successor must prioritise the tragedy, Grenfell United said.

Friday will mark two years since 72 people died when a blaze broke out in the 24-storey block of flats in North Kensington, west London.

Karim Mussilhy, vice chair of the group, warned the next prime minister "not to forget about Grenfell".

"It is important to keep up the momentum because there are many other Grenfell Towers out there", he said.

Getty Images Grenfell unitedGetty Images
Grenfell United is campaigning for a social housing regulator that will ensure tenants are listened to when they raise concerns

The 33-year-old father of two said: "We don't know who it's going to be and, quite frankly, it doesn't matter, because the pressure will continuously be applied by us, and hopefully we can have a similar if not better relationship with the next person."

After 1,059 days in charge, Theresa May stepped down as Conservative Party leader on Friday after she failed to deliver a successful Brexit strategy.

She will remain prime minister until a replacement is appointed - 10 candidates have launched their leadership bids this week.

Mr Mussilhy, who lost his uncle in the fire, said the next leader would "have an opportunity to make changes that will echo throughout generations".

Grenfell United is campaigning for a social housing regulator that will ensure tenants are listened to when they raise concerns, and for all dangerous materials including cladding to be banned and removed from homes.

Community memorials to Grenfell

'Waiting to die down'

"It's quite insulting at times to see any time Grenfell is spoken about in Parliament there's no more than six or seven MPs in the room", Mr Mussilhy said.

"And it goes to show the mentality that people have towards this, it just feels like people are waiting for this just to die down and eventually go away, but it's not."

The Conservative-run Kensington and Chelsea Council also called on the future PM to honour promises or "risk losing what little trust there is".

Council leader Elizabeth Campbell said: "The government has made many commitments to the families from the tower, the community around the tower, and to people right across London - so no matter who the next PM is, they need to honour those commitments or risk losing what very little trust there is."