Emetullah "Emma" Edhem (born August 1966) is an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

in the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

representing the ward of

Candlewick Candlewick may refer to: *Candle wick, a part of a candle or oil lamp *Candlewick, a style of glassware made by the Imperial Glass Company * Candlewick (fabric), a thick, soft cotton fabric *Candlewick, an element in financial candlestick charts * ...

. She is also Professor in Practice for Finance at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

, and a practicing barrister. Since June 2020, Edhem became Vice President for Greater London and Chairman of City in the

Order of St. John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headqu ...

. In April 2021, she became Master of the Bench for Distinguished Barristers at the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn. She has also held the position of Deputy Head of International Law at No5 Barristers Chambers since September 2014. In 2012, Edhem became the first woman to hold the post of Chairman of the Turkish British Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TBCCI). In 2011, Edhem served as counsel for Turkish Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recep may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (born 1929), Turkish footballer * Recep Akdağ (born 1960), Turkish physician and poli ...

in a successful libel case against the

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

. Edhem previously served as Common Councilor for the ward of

Castle Baynard Castle Baynard is one of the 25 wards of the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London. Features The ward covers an irregularly shaped area, sometimes likened to a tuning fork, bounded on the east by the wards of Queenhith ...

prior to becoming Alderman; and is a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

Early life

Emma Edhem was born in London, England and received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

, University of London and continued her education to receive a postgraduate diploma ( CPE) in law at

City, University of London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

. Edhem was called to the Bar in 1993, where she was in pupilage to Michael Latham before she was made a member of chambers of 4 King's Bench Walk of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

. She was subsequently made Ad Eundem member of the Inner Temple.

Election to Court of Common Council

On Thursday, 20 February 2014, Emma Edhem was elected to the

Court of Common Council The Court of Common Council is the primary decision-making body of the City of London Corporation. It meets nine times per year. Most of its work is carried out by committees. Elections are held at least every four years. It is largely composed o ...

in the Ward of

after a contested bye-election and the resignation of Raymond Catt. Edhem won 80% of the votes, and became one of eight Common Councilman to serve the ward. At the time of the election, Edhem was serving as a barrister at No5 Chambers, and Chairman of the Turkish British Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Edhem was re-elected as Councilman on 23 March 2017.

Election to Court of Alderman

On Thursday, 12 July 2018, Emma Edhem defeated her competitor, James deSausmarez, William Charnley and Johnathan Bewes to become Alderman for the ward of Candlewick, and joined the Court of Alderman. The Aldermanic seat was vacated by Dame Fiona Woolfe earlier in the year. deSausmarez was a Councillor for Candlewick since 2015. Edhem at the time was an elected

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

for the ward of Castle Baynard, and serving as Deputy Head of the International Law Group at No5 Barristers Chambers. Edhem became only the fifth woman in history to take the seat as Alderman.

Professional Life

Edhem sits on the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

's Court of Aldermen, General Purposes Committee, Nominations Committee to the Court of Aldermen, Court of Common Council, Finance Committee, Efficiency and Performance sub committee for Finance,

Bridge House Estates The Bridge House Estates is a charitable trust, originating in the late eleventh century and formally established by royal charter in 1282 by the City of London Corporation in London, England. It was originally established to maintain London Brid ...

, Community and Children’s Committee, the

City of London Police The City of London Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, including the Middle and Inner Temples. The force responsible for law enforcement within the remainder of the London region, ou ...

Authority Board, Economic and Cyber Crime Board, Professional Standard and Integrity of the City Police, and Tackling Racism Task Force. She is also Court Assistant of the

Worshipful Company of Woolmen The Worshipful Company of Woolmen is one of the livery companies in the City of London. It is known to have existed in 1180, making it one of the older livery companies of the City. It was officially incorporated in 1522. The company's original ...

Worshipful Company of Educators The Worshipful Company of Educators is the 109th livery company of the City of London, having been granted livery status on 10 September 2013 by the Court of Aldermen. The Company was founded on 24 May 2001 as a Guild to represent the education ...

, Vice President of the Greater London Priory Group and Chairman of the City Branch of the Order of St John. She is a practicing barrister at No5 Chambers, where she is deputy head of international law. She is also chair of the Turkish British Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the first woman to hold the position. She co-founded the Azerbaijani British Law Association, and served as President of the Turkish British Legal Society from 2002 until 2013. In December 2019, she was presented her Coat of Arms by the

Windsor Herald Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. It has been suggested that the office was instituted specifically for the Order of the Garter in 1348, or that it predates the Order and was in use as ea ...

, John Allen-Petrie.

Video

Feel the fear, and do it anyway
Video for Turkish Turkish Women's International Network, (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edhem, Emma Living people Councilmen of the City of London 1966 births British barristers British people of Turkish Cypriot descent