Damien James Egan is a British Labour Party politician, and the second directly elected

Mayor of Lewisham The mayor of Lewisham is a directly elected mayor responsible for the executive function of Lewisham London Borough Council in London, England. Steve Bullock held the position from 2002 until May 2018, when he was succeeded by Damien Egan. Re ...

in Greater London.

Early life

Egan was born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland, and raised in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. During his childhood, his family were homeless on two occasions. He later studied at St Mary's Twickenham, and moved to

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

after his graduation. He has described his family as "

cultural Catholic Cultural Christians are nonreligious persons who adhere to Christian values and appreciate Christian culture. As such, these individuals usually identify themselves as culturally Christians, and are often seen by practicing believers as nomin ...

s"; as an adult, he converted to Judaism.

Political career

At the 2005 general election Egan came third as the Labour candidate in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

. At the 2010 general election he was the party's candidate in

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

, where he again finished third behind the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

and Liberal Democrats candidates. Damien was elected as a councillor for Lewisham Central in 2010 and became the cabinet member for housing in 2014. In 2018 he won the May 2018 Mayoral election and was re-elected in 2022.

Mayor of Lewisham

As a mayor, Egan has committed to deliver 1000 new social homes and double the number of Living Wage employers in the borough. In January 2019, he launched London's first indoor sleeping pods for homeless people in the emergency night shelter.

2018

He won the May 2018 mayoral election, having previously been a borough councillor for the Lewisham Central ward.

2022

Damien was re-elected in the 2022 election. The Labour party held all 54 seats for local councillors in a majority win.

References

Mayors of places in Greater London Living people LGBT politicians from England Labour Party (UK) mayors LGBT mayors of places in the United Kingdom Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century LGBT people {{England-mayor-stub