Yesterday (10th May) Ealing Labour councillors elected Councillor Peter Mason as their new leader at their Annual General Meeting. Peter will take up the post of Leader of the Council at its Annual Meeting next Tuesday 18th May.
Peter was until recently Ealing’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning & Transformation. He led the effort to re-establish council house building as a core part of the Council’s work, and launched Ealing Together, the support network bringing voluntary, faith and community groups together to build resilience and support for communities during the Covid-19 crisis. He currently represents Southall Green ward. Peter said:
“I am determined to demonstrate to the residents of our borough that Labour is on their side.
“Under my leadership, Ealing will be an open, inclusive and transparent council that engages and involves residents in tackling the big challenges we face.
“As we navigate the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, our efforts will be focused on supporting an economic recovery grounded in bringing well paid, good jobs back to our borough, re-greening our neighbourhoods and relentlessly tackling poverty and inequality.
“As someone who grew up in a single parent family on a council estate in the dying days of the Thatcher government, I’m proud to have been elected to lead our borough and to make change happen for those who most need it, just as the last Labour government did for me.“
Cllr Deirdre Costigan was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Group, and will become the Council’s first openly lesbian Deputy Leader at the Council AGM on Tuesday 18th May.
Deirdre moved to London from Ireland almost 30 years ago, fell in love with the diversity of our city and made her home here. She worked in the public sector before becoming a UNISON trade union official fighting for fairer pay and conditions for public sector workers. Deirdre is an Ealing Labour Councillor for Northolt Mandeville ward.
Cllr Bassam Mahfouz will continue to serve as the Labour Group’s second Deputy Leader.
A new council cabinet will be appointed in the next week along with a series of announcements relating to the Council’s new priorities. The new leadership team will formally take over following the Council’s Annual Meeting on Tuesday 18th May.