Mayor announces key senior appointments
• Deputy Mayors will work with Sadiq to create a fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous city for all Londoners
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has today announced key senior appointments who will work with him during his historic third term to create a fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous city for all Londoners.
Beginning his unprecedented third term as Mayor, Sadiq has pledged to make London the best city in the world to grow up in, committing to improving the lives of young Londoners – from birth all the way to buying a house and getting a job.
The Mayor has confirmed his intention for all but two of his Deputy Mayors from his second term to remain in office.
Baroness Fiona Twycross will be stepping down from her role as Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience to spend more time fulfilling her duties in the House of Lords.
Shirley Rodrigues will be stepping down from her position as Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy but will remain a Board Member of the environmental network C40 Cities on his behalf. This will see her focus on championing London’s achievements to inspire other cities and support their action on climate, air quality and climate resilience. The Mayor will announce her successor in due course.
The Mayor intends for the following Deputy Mayors to remain in place*:
• Deputy Mayor for Transport – Seb Dance
• Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth – Howard Dawber
• Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime - Sophie Linden
• Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development - Tom Copley
• Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries – Justine Simons
• Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and the Fire Service – Jules Pipe
• Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice – Debbie Weekes-Bernard
• Statutory Deputy Mayor, Deputy Mayor for Children and Families – Joanne McCartney
Under an enhanced role of Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth, Howard Dawber will take on responsibility for skills, ensuring London Government, the capital’s businesses and education bodies work hand-in-hand to turbo charge new jobs and growth in the capital.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I would like to thank Fiona Twycross and Shirley Rodrigues for their exceptional service to London as Deputy Mayors over the last eight years. Fiona has played a pivotal role in the huge changes and improvements to London Fire Brigade’s culture and systems and has worked relentlessly with the Brigade to implement the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry so it is better prepared and equipped to fight fires and keep all Londoners safe. She also played a key role in our city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am extremely grateful to Shirley for spearheading our world-leading initiatives to bring clean air to millions of Londoners, in particular by leading the implementation of the Ultra Low Emission Zone, as well as work on climate resilience, rewilding and achieving Net Zero by 2030. I am delighted that she will continue as a C40 Cities Board member, working with me and cities across the globe to tackle the climate crisis.
“I am also pleased that Howard Dawber will be taking responsibility for working with partners to deliver the new London Growth Plan, with a target of creating more than 150,000 good jobs by 2028 and increasing living standards for Londoners.”
“I look forward to working with my deputy mayors over the next four years to build the fairer, safer, greener London that all of London’s communities deserve.”
The Mayor has also reappointed David Bellamy as Chief of Staff, Richard Watts as Deputy Chief of Staff, and Ali Picton, Felicity Appleby and Sarah Brown as his Mayoral Directors.
The key priorities the Mayor has set out for his third term are:
1. Make free school meals permanent in London’s state primary schools.
2. Keep TfL fares frozen until at least 2025.
3. Never introduce a pay-per-mile road charging scheme in London.
4. End rough sleeping by 2030 with support from the Government.
5. Build 40,000 new council homes by 2030 and build new “rent control” homes.
6. Put 1,300 more police on the streets, and fund more youth clubs with £30 million investment.
7. Provide record investment to tackle violence against women and girls, and deliver free legal support for victims.
8. Continue world-leading climate action with a fully zero-emission bus fleet by 2030.
9. Clean up the Thames, with a plan to make it swimmable within 10 years.
10. Provide free skills training for any unemployed or low-income Londoner, and create 150,000+ new good jobs by 2028.
Notes to editors
As Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience, Baroness Fiona Twycross has worked relentlessly with London Fire Brigade to ensure every recommendation made to the Brigade by the first phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has been implemented in full. She has been a key part of helping to drive huge changes to policies, procedures and equipment which the Commissioner has made to the London Fire Brigade and played a key part in ensuring that London Fire Brigade is now better prepared, organised and equipped to fight fires and keep all Londoners safe. She has also played an important role in initiating key cultural reform within the London Fire Brigade to help ensure it has a workplace culture where staff from all backgrounds can thrive.
Shirley Rodrigues has taken world- leading action on air quality that has seen dirty pollution reduce by nearly a half and record numbers of zero-emission buses, electric charging points and zero-emissions taxis, alongside restoring nature and rewilding all across London including more than half a million trees planted. NO2 concentrations have reduced London-wide, with average roadside reductions of 65 per cent, 53 per cent and 45 per cent at central, inner, and outer monitoring locations, respectively. Across London as a whole, average roadside NO2 concentrations have been reduced by 50 per cent.
*The appointment of Sophie Linden as Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is subject to a confirmation hearing by the Assembly Policing and Crime Committee.
*The appointment of Seb Dance as Deputy Chair of the TfL Board is subject to a confirmation hearing by the London Assembly.
* The appointment of Jules Pipe as Deputy Mayor for Fire is subject to a confirmation hearing by the Assembly Fire, Rescue and Emergency Planning Committee.
Sadiq Khan will continue to serve as the Chair of the TfL Board.
David Bellamy will serve as Chair of the London Resilience Forum.
C40 is a global network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis.