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Heidi Alexander appointed as Khan’s new deputy mayor for transport

Today Sadiq Khan announced the appointment of Heidi Alexander, Labour MP for Lewisham East, as his new deputy mayor for transport.

Alexander will succeed Val Shawcross, who is retiring from the Greater London Authority after 18 years of service.

Heidi Alexander said: “I am really excited to be joining Sadiq and the team at City Hall. Val is going to be a hard act to follow but I can’t wait to get started.

“After eight years as the Member of Parliament for Lewisham East and six years as a local councillor, I know just how important it is we ensure everyone has access to a high-quality and affordable public transport network, with safe cycling routes across the capital.

“London is a fantastic city. I know Sadiq wants its transport system to be the envy of the world and I am looking forward to playing my part in making that happen.”

As chair of Khan’s London mayoral election campaign in 2016, Alexander has worked closely with the mayor before. Sadiq Khan commented: “I’m delighted that Heidi Alexander has agreed to become our new deputy mayor for Transport.

“Heidi knows this city inside-out, and her work both as Shadow Health Secretary and campaigning over the best Brexit deal has demonstrated the terrific job she will do as part of my team standing up for London.

“Heidi is respected across the political divide as a parliamentarian and campaigner, and Londoners can be confident she will ensure we deliver our ambitious plans to transform London’s transport network over the coming years.”

To take up the role in City Hall, Heidi Alexander is thought to be leaving parliament. The resignation would spark a by-election in Lewisham East, where the Corbynsceptic MP increased her majority last year to a sizeable 21,123.

The safe seat is likely to set off a hard-fought selection race. According to the Guardian‘s Jessica Elgot, who broke the story of Alexander’s upcoming resignation last month, Lewisham councillor Sakina Sheikh, NEC member Claudia Webbe, GMB organiser Nadine Houghton and former Labour MP Katy Clark are all tipped to be in the running.

From the Corbynsceptic wing of the party, Lewisham council cabinet members Joe Dromey and Kevin Bonavia are rumoured to be interested.

Jeremy Corbyn appointed the south London MP as Shadow Secretary of State for Health the day after he was first elected as Labour leader. But in June 2016, Alexander was the first to quit the shadow cabinet in a mass resignation that led to another leadership contest.

Since Britain voted to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum, Alexander been a strong voice on the side of Remainers. Earlier this year, the co-chair of the Labour Campaign for the Single Market and leading supporter of Open Britain backed consulting Labour members on Brexit.

In a piece for LabourList, she criticised the party for “brushing [Brexit] under the carpet” and urged members to “let their views be known” by writing to the party directly. She called for Labour to establish a “dedicated Brexit policy commission” within its National Policy Forum.

Update:

Heidi Alexander has confirmed on Twitter that she will be resigning as an MP:

Newly elected Lewisham councillor Sakina Sheikh has promptly put herself forward for selection and is thought to have strong local backing:

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