The five runners in the race to be Brent's Deputy Mayor 2025-26

 

The Brent Labour Group's AGM tomorrow will be over-shadowed by last Thursday's election results. Brent goes to the polls on May 7th next year and given the volatile state of politics it is hard to predict what will happen. Those who think Reform has no chance in London should bear in mind that there may be some support in Outer London due to a collapse in the Conservative and Labour vote. A lot will depend on whether Greens and Liberal Democrats can take on Reform.

This leaves the Labour Group's choice of Deputy Mayor for 2025-26 more difficult. They would be due to be Mayor after the 2026 borough election but will they still be a councillor and able to take up the role?

So members of the Labour Group,  as well as looking at the five candidates' election statements, will likely take into account the security of the ward the candidates currently represent (although that could change through some nifty selection manoeuvres ).

Cllr Ryan Hack will become this years' Mayor at the Annual Council Meeting, the youngest ever, but who will be the Deputy?

Those in the know give Cllr  Ishma Moeen (Wembley Hill ward) the edge in the first past the post secret ballot. She has no current Committee position on the council so is relatively inexperienced but does have business experience according to her Register of Interests:

At the 2022 local election she was just 91votes ahead (1390) of the leading Conservative (1299).

I understand that Cllr  Narinder Singh Bajwa (Northwick Park) is running again after his defeat last year. His only Committee role is on the Alcohol and Licensing Sub-Committee.  His energetic and insistent campaigning has annoyed some of his colleagues, and out in the community he has been accused of over-claiming his involvment in the K-Pop Festival issue.

His business interests are based on a number of entities that share the name Skyspace, only one is recorded on the Register of Interests.  The main company gives its interests as development of building projects,  building completion and finishing and other letting and operating of own or leased real estates.  Total net assets seem to be around £5.5m.

At the local election in 2022 Cllr Bajwa was well ahead of the nearest Conservative, 1638 votes to 984.

Another name that has cropped up is  Cllr Rita Begum (Kilburn).  She is Chair of Brent Connects (Kilburn) and a member of the Planning Committee.

Her entry on the Register of Interests is extensive and includes 'Ambassador for Gem Environment Building Services Lrd and Paytap' and Advisor to SD Care Agency.

Gem is based in Central London and a leading building maintenance contractor since 1999, serving London and the Southeast across sectors like local authorities, social landlords, schools, and commercial buildings.

Paytap is one of the many companies offering firms a gadget to take card payments.  

Cllr Begum was top in the Kilburn 2022 local election with 2,115 votes. The nearest political rival was the Green Party at 679.

Cllr Kathleen Fraser (Chalkhill), is also a candidate. She is a veteran Labour Party member, first elected as a councillor in the 1980s and is deeply embedded in Chalkhill and its Community Centre, Community Trust and Residents' Association. 

Cllr Fraser is Vice Chair of the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny  Committee. She topped the Barnhill election with 1,410 votes.

Lastly, but these candidates are listed in no particular order, is Cllr Orleen Hylton. (Preston). Cllr Hylton has been Mayor before but she was affected by illness duing the latter half of her term. She is on the Licensing Committee, the Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee, the Employers Joint Consultative Committee and vice chair of Wembley Connects.

Cllr Hylton's Register of Interest includes Diversity Office for Brent Friends of the Earth, governor of Donnington Primary Schools and  Company Secretary of the Black African Caribbean Alliance.

Cllr Hylton was second  in the 2022 Council election with 1417 against 941 for her Conservative rival.

As far as I can ascertain there are no committee changes likely at the AGM that will be held at 6pm tomorrow at the Civic Centre. 

 

 

Note an earlier edition of this article also contained a paragraph on Cllr Robert Johnson (Chalkhill) who I have now been told has withdrawn his Mayoral submission.

Cllr Ryan Hack set to become Brent's new Deputy Mayor

 Cllr Ryan Hack (Brondesbury Park) is set to become Deputy Mayor of Brent after a narrow victory over Cllr Narinder Singh Bajwa (Northwick Park).  The post became vacant after the resignation of  Cllr Bajwa's ward colleague, Cllr Diane Collymore,  following a finding that she had breached the Councillor Code of Conduct LINK.

Cllr Hack is an energetic activist instantly recognisable from the cap atop his tall figure when he is out campaigning.

 

Cllr Hack will be one of the youngest Mayors of Brent when he takes over from Cllr Tariq Dar next year. His entry on the Brent Labour website stresses his local background and activism:

Ryan Hack was born and bred in Brent, largely in the south of the Borough, and was raised by a wonderful single mother, always living in social housing, as he still does today. He has attended local state schools in Brent from Curzon Crescent Nursery in Roundwood to Claremont High School in Kenton. Ryan became the first person in his family to attend university and holds a master’s degree in American Politics from UCL. His life has been shaped by the impact of austerity on social housing and food banks. After witnessing his father beginning to use food banks last year, he became an official volunteer at the Trussell Trust Food Bank in Church End. As Co-Convenor of the Brent ‘Right to Food’ campaign, he is committed to reducing food and fuel poverty connected to a Cost-of-Living-Crisis by working closely with mutual aid groups and key stakeholders to establish a food justice strategy in our community. 

 

Ryan is also an active member of the Brent Friends of the Earth where he is committed to transforming our local parks and high streets, where he has conducted for the past six years a monthly neighbourhood clean-up by tidying up our underpasses, alleyways and public parks in Brent. As a dedicated local activist, he fundamentally believes that he has the life experience and the passion that one can bring to bear in representing our community.

Cllr Bajwa is an officer of the Sudbury Courts Residents' Association and director of Harrow based Skyspace Homes.

UPDATE: Cllr Collymore suspended from Labour Party pending further Labour Party investigation into incident that led to her resignation as Deputy Mayor. Brent Labour Group apologises for her actions.

 Following Cllr Collymore's resignation as Deputy Mayor and from her committee positions, she has been suspended from the Labour Party pending further investigations by the party.

Her resignation followed a finding by the responsible Brent Officer that she has breached the Members Code of Conduct in an altercation with a parking warden. REPORT HERE

Cllr Collymore remains a councillor.

The Kilburn Times reported a statement by Brent Labour Group:

Following a breach of the councillors code of conduct, Cllr Collymore has been suspended, pending Labour Party investigation.

We unequivocally condemn the conduct displayed during this incident, which falls short of the high standards expected within the Labour Party. We have written to the member of staff to offer our apology on behalf of the entire Labour Group.

Cllr Tariq Dar is to be Brent Council's next Deputy Mayor

Cllr Tariq Dar was elected Deputy Mayor for 2023-24 at yesterday's Brent Labour Group Annual General Meeting. He had 29 votes, to Tony Ethapemi's 14. There was 1 abstention. This means as far as can be forseen that Cllr Dar will be Mayor in 2024-25. 

Cllr Orleen Hylton will be appointed Mayor for 2023-24 at the Brent Council AGM.