Sadiq names his City Hall deputies to shake-up housing and transport

Sadiq Khan has today finalised his top team to help implement his plans at City Hall with the announcement of his deputy mayors.

Joanne McCartney was Khan’s first official appointment when she was made his statutory Deputy Mayor. Now she has been joined by deputy mayors with responsibility for housing, transport and policing.

The most well-known of the new appointments is Deputy Mayor for Transport, Val Shawcross, who stood down as an Assembly Member this month after 16 years. She is widely liked, both in the Labour Party and City Hall, and will go into the role well-equipped to deal with TfL’s £10 billion budget.

Sophie Linden has been handed the Deputy Mayor for Policing brief. Linden was an adviser to Blunkett as Home Secretary in the early 2000s, and is now Deputy Mayor in Hackney. Her New Labour ties seem to reflect her approach: Linden is seen as representing the “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime” mantra.

The Deputy Mayor for Housing role has been given to Islington Labour councillor James Murray. Islington has been seen as taking a more radical approach to dealing with the capital’s housing crisis than other boroughs, and it is appears to be these ideas that Khan wants to try out on a larger scale. Murray is younger, and less experienced, than the other deputy mayors, but could bring new ideas to help tackle one of London’s biggest problems.

Two other appointments were also made today: Andrew Adonis will chair the board for Crossrail 2, while Fiona Twycross will oversee the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). Adonis had reportedly been approached about taking on the Deputy Mayor for Transport position but was sceptical about taking on a role that could have an impact on his other public sector roles. Twycross has been Labour group leader on LFEPA since 2013.