Tim Donovan | Former Political Editor, BBC London.

Next week London Councils – the umbrella group promoting the interests of the capital’s 33 local authorities – will be electing a new chair. 

That is to replace Claire Holland, the former Labour leader of Lambeth council, whose party lost control to the Greens in last month’s local elections.

Ealing leader Peter Mason had been the favourite to take over but I understand Stephen Cowan, leader of Hammersmith and Fulham, is now the Labour choice for the role which will be voted on by all the borough leaders this week.

A Reshaped Landscape at the Top

London Councils may play second fiddle to the London mayoralty and the Greater London Authority in the capital’s political firmament. But Holland was regarded as a success in raising its profile. 

Her speeches to the annual London Government dinner went down well. London’s town halls collectively developed a bit of attitude.

That had brought tensions with the mayor, Sadiq Khan. Frustrated at the poor consultative arrangements with City Hall, Holland pushed for better structures to ensure the mayor listened to and engaged more with what councils wanted. 

It was suggested senior London councillors could replace the London Assembly as the scrutiny body holding the mayor to account – a reset of the capital’s devolved government after 25 years.

London Councils was also making its voice heard louder with government on a range of issues from housing, temporary accommodation, social care and the need for stable long-term finances. 

Experience Lost, Influence Shifting

But one of the outcomes of the radical transformation of the capital’s political map last month is the loss of institutional knowledge. 

Two Labour leaders – Richard Olszewski in Camden and Peray Ahmet in Haringey – lost their seats. In Waltham Forest, Grace Williams – deputy chair of London Councils – is now in opposition after the Greens’ victory there.

Labour’s influence will diminish as it no longer controls most authorities. The Greens effectively run six councils now but have no practical experience of this pan-London body. It will need time to settle.

What Comes Next for London Councils

The organisation habitually tries to speak with one cross-party voice on matters of London wide importance, but Labour-Green hostility in this new fragmented landscape could make things difficult.

The effect may be to dim London Councils’ effectiveness – at least in the short term – until things are reset. 

Delivery, Growth and a Working Model

This potential loss of knowledge and experience hit home with the publication this week of Building Communities: One Brick and One Heart at a Time by Darren Rodwell, the former leader of Barking and Dagenham Council.

20%

of all affordable homes built in London in the five years to 2024 were delivered in the east London borough.

The numbers on the housing waiting list and in temporary accommodation fell sharply. Mixed communities have resulted from a flexible community rent model which tied housing costs more closely to household circumstances.

Rodwell brokered a partnership approach to building homes and infrastructure which bound communities, developers and the local council closely together, led by council-owned but arms-length Be First – an investment and planning company – and B&D Resides, operating its new housing stock.

Rodwell told a launch event at the Guildhall this week that he hopes his recipe for inclusive growth could be a framework for other local authorities to follow.

Politics, Pressure and What Gets Lost

As for Rodwell himself, a full account may emerge in time of his political fall two years ago, how he was removed last minute as the Labour parliamentary candidate for Barking, and then resigned from the council.

What was very strange in the run-up to the 2024 general election was the appearance in the press, including on the BBC, of a sequence of stories which revived minor controversies Rodwell had previously addressed to his party’s satisfaction.

Then, just before the crucial deadline for Labour to select its candidates, came the claim of inappropriate behaviour against Rodwell by a person whose identity he has never known and was never disclosed to him. This was never investigated after he was pressurised to withdraw his candidacy.

He was officially cleared a few days later, by which time nominations had closed and his parliamentary hopes were gone.

It is a reminder, for sure, of the brutality of modern politics. In this case, many in the built environment sector say, it led to the loss of a front-line practitioner delivering where delivery is sorely needed.