Jas Athwal (; born September 1963) is a British Labour Party politician who currently serves as the Leader of

Redbridge London Borough Council Redbridge London Borough Council is the local authority for Redbridge in Greater London, England, and one of the capital's 32 borough councils. Redbridge is divided into 21 wards and elects 63 councillors. , Redbridge Council comprises 55 Labou ...

Early life and education

Jas Athwal was born in the Punjab state in India, in September 1963, into a Punjabi

Jatt Sikh Jat Sikh (also known by the more conventional endonym Jatt Sikh) is a sub-group of the Jat people and the Sikh religious group from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in the Punjab owing to their large land holdin ...

family. He lived there until his family relocated to Ilford, in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, when he was seven years old. In Ilford, his mother worked at a home sewing ties, while his father worked at a tin factory. He attended Mayfield School in Ilford, before studying at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

Professional career

Following his graduation, Athwal worked in the computer security industry, before starting his own business running a children's nursery in

Redbridge, London Redbridge is an area of Ilford in East London, England. It gives its name to the London Borough of Redbridge, a local government district of Greater London, with which it should not be confused. Etymology The name comes from a bridge over th ...

Political career

In the 2010 local elections, Athwal was elected as a Labour councillor for the Mayfield ward on

, taking the seat from the Conservative Party with a majority of 1368 votes. Athwal was elected to lead the Labour Group on

Redbridge Council Redbridge London Borough Council is the local authority for Redbridge in Greater London, England, and one of the capital's 32 borough councils. Redbridge is divided into 21 wards and elects 63 councillors. , Redbridge Council comprises 55 Labou ...

on 11 October 2011, with 15 of the 21 votes. This followed a vote of no confidence in the previous leader, Cllr Bob Littlewood. In the 2014 local elections, Athwal led the Redbridge Labour Party to win its first ever majority on Redbridge Council, gaining 11 seats to give Labour a total of 35 of the 63 seats, winning control from the incumbent

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 in ...

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

coalition. Athwal was elected to serve as the first-ever Labour majority Leader of Redbridge Council. At the May 2018 borough elections, Athwal led the Labour Party to another victory, securing 51 of the 63 seats. This left the Conservative opposition with 12 councillors and the Liberal Democrats with none. In 2019, Athwal was elected Executive member for Crime and Public Protection of

London Councils London Councils is the local government association for Greater London, England. It is a cross-party organisation that represents London's 32 borough councils and the City of London. It was formed in 1995 as a merger of the London Boroughs As ...

, the local government association that represents London's 32 Borough Councils. Shortly before the 2019 general election, Athwal stood to be selected to be the Labour parliamentary candidate for his home constituency of Ilford South, with the incumbent Labour MP

Mike Gapes Michael John Gapes (born 4 September 1952) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019. Born in Wanstead Hospital, Gapes attended Buckhurst Hill County High School. He studied ec ...

having defected to

Change UK The Independent Group for Change, also known as Change UK, was a British centrist, pro-European Union political party, founded in February 2019 and dissolved ten months later, shortly after all its MPs lost their seats in the 2019 general e ...

. Athwal was suspended from the party on the evening before members were due to vote, on the basis of serious allegations of sexual harassment. Athwal denied the allegations and called for due process.

Sam Tarry Samuel Peter Tarry (; born 27 August 1982) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford South since 2019. He is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus. On 11 October 2022 he was deselect ...

, Athwal's rival in the contest, was subsequently selected in a vote a few weeks later. The timing of Athwal's suspension on the evening before the vote, was publicly questioned by neighbouring MP,

Wes Streeting Wesley Paul William Streeting (; born 21 January 1983) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care since 2021, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford North since 2015. He serv ...

, since Tarry had close links to

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

, the then Leader of the Labour Party. The leader of the Conservative opposition on Redbridge Council urged Athwal to stand down as leader until the matter of his disputed suspension from the Labour Party was resolved. Redbridge Labour Group responded with a statement that "While this process runs its course, Jas Athwal will continue as Leader of Redbridge Council with our full support". On 15 September 2020, Athwal was cleared of wrongdoing by the Labour Party, and his suspension was lifted. Athwal called for an independent probe into the way that he was suspended on the eve of the selection vote. On 10 October 2022, Athwal was selected as the Labour prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) for the Ilford South constituency at the next election, defeating the incumbent

, by 499 votes to 361.

Housing

Following the 2014 local elections, Athwal made council housing a key part of his administration's programme, having built the first new council houses in Redbridge in 10 years. He has a target to build 1000 new affordable homes in an effort to end homelessness in Redbridge. Athwal also actively supported the Dubs amendment for unaccompanied children in Calais and in 2016, visited the Calais "jungle" refugee camp. Athwal's housing strategy has caused controversy locally. In 2019 a petition was signed by over 3000 residents, in opposition to the Labour administration's plan to build temporary accommodation on the sites of two green spaces in Hainault, in the north of the borough. The plans were introduced in 2018 as a response to Redbridge Council's statutory duty to house 2,300 homeless households, a national reduction in local authority funding, and a consensus that the available hostel accommodation was unsuitable for families. Plans for both sites included preserving and developing the play areas and remaining green space. In response to alleged incidents of abusive language, Athwal blocked some residents on social media. Defending Athwal's decision to block some local residents on social media, the Deputy Leader of Redbridge Council invited blocked residents to contact Councillors through existing official channels.

Personal life

Athwal is a

British Sikh British Sikhs number over 520,000 people and account for 0.88% of England and Wales's population as of 2021, forming the United Kingdom's fourth-largest religious group. According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, Sikhs in England & Wales nu ...

. He lives in Ilford, is married and has four children. Athwal is an avid supporter of local football club Woodford Town FC, who in 2020 named the stand at their new ground in Woodford Bridge, the 'Jas Athwal Stand' in recognition of Athwal's contribution to bringing it back home to Redbridge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athwal, Jas Living people 1963 births Indian people Punjabi people Indian Sikhs Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom Indian emigrants to England British people of Indian descent British people of Punjabi descent British Sikhs English people of Indian descent English people of Punjabi descent English Sikhs Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in the London Borough of Redbridge Leaders of local authorities of England