James Rowan Chatterton Dickson (born 16 January 1964) is a Labour Co-op

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

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the borou ...

Lambeth Council Lambeth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, and one of the 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council meets at Lambeth Town Hall ...

, he also serves as Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care (along with Cllr Lucy Caldicott), having previously been the Council's Cabinet Member for Finance and also its Leader.

Early life and career

He was educated at the public school

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

, as a result of being a child of a serving

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

, and

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

where he read

Social and Political Sciences The Faculty of Human, Social, and Political Science at the University of Cambridge was created in 2011 out of a merger of the Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Faculty of Politics, Psychology, Sociology and International Studies. ...

. Whilst at Cambridge he was elected as Chair of the

Cambridge University Labour Club The Cambridge University Labour Club (CULC), formerly known as Cambridge Universities Labour Club, is a student political society, first founded as the Cambridge University Fabian Society in 1905 by Nick Davis, to provide a voice for British L ...

. From 1989, Dickson worked for the London Housing Unit as a Senior Policy Officer for ten years. In 1998 he was a Visiting Lecturer at the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Polyte ...

until 2000. Between 2000 and 2003 he worked as an Associate for Weber Shandwick. He previously worked for the consultancy firm Four Communications as Politics Director. He is a member of the

Association of Professional Political Consultants The Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC) is a United Kingdom organisation, established in 1994, that is the self-regulatory body that represents firms engaged in lobbying activities. APPC membership is open to public affairs fir ...

Political career

Dickson was first elected as a Councillor for

Herne Hill (ward) Herne Hill is an administrative division of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is located in Herne Hill and contains Brockwell Park, Ruskin Park and Herne Hill railway station. Loughborough Junction railway station and King's College Hospi ...

in the 1990 Lambeth London Borough Council election, he quickly rose up the ranks to be Leader of

in 1994. At the 2001 General Election he was Labour's candidate in Old Bexley and Sidcup. Cllr Dickson has continuously been a member of the Cabinet of

since 2009 and has held various positions (such as Finance and Voluntary and Community Sectors), currently serving as Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care since 23 April 2020. Politically he is identified with the

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

of the Labour Party and was leading Lambeth's Labour Group when it was described as "more New Labour than New Labour" by then Prime Minister,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

. He is a member of

Progressive Britain Progressive Britain, formerly known as Progress, is a political organisation associated with the British Labour Party, founded in 1996 to support the New Labour leadership of Tony Blair. It is seen as being on the right of the party. Progress ...

References

1964 births Living people Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in the London Borough of Lambeth Leaders of local authorities of England {{england-politician-stub