Keith Moffitt is a British

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

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

politician. He was a

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

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to ...

from 1994, and in the local elections of May 2006 became the first ever Liberal Democrat Leader of

Camden London Borough Council Camden London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Camden in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Camden is divided into 18 wards, each electing th ...

, ending Labour's 35-year hold on the borough. He was also the first openly gay leader of the council. In the May 2010 local elections, Moffitt was re-elected for his West Hampstead seat, but removed as Council leader as Labour re-took control of the borough. Following the delayed

Haverstock Haverstock is an area of the London Borough of Camden: specifically the east of Belsize Park, north of Chalk Farm and west of Kentish Town. It is centred on Queens Crescent and Malden Road. Gospel Oak is to the north, Camden Town to the south. ...

elections, which gave his party a higher number of seats than the

Conservatives 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 ...

, he served as Leader of the Opposition. He lost his seat in the 2014 election.

Career

Moffitt speaks fluent French, German and Portuguese. In 2004 he ran in the

European elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until ...

to represent

London 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 majo ...

in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. Before becoming leader of the council Moffitt worked as a

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

. He previously had a 20-year career with

British Coal The British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation responsible for the mining of coal in the United Kingdom from 1987 until it was effectively dissolved in 1997. The corporation was created by renaming its predecessor, the National Co ...

, working in International Relations and European Community affairs, and was Chairman of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Working Party on Coal Trade from 1986 to 1992. In 2006 Moffitt suspended his professional career in order to focus on his new role leading Camden Council. He subsequently resumed his career in languages and went on to become Chair of Council of the

Chartered Institute of Linguists Founded as the Institute of Linguists in 1910, the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) received its Royal Charter in 2005, and is a professional association for language professionals. CIOL supports linguists throughout their careers, and pro ...

. from 2012 to 2016.

Policies

Moffitt campaigned on a platform of freezing the

Council Tax Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge The Community C ...

in his first year of office and, together with his Conservative coalition partners, honoured this pledge through the council's "Better and Cheaper" agenda. This cost-cutting programme attracted significant criticism from the opposition Labour party.

References

External links

Personal Page at Camden CouncilLeader's pages at Camden Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moffitt, Keith Living people Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Councillors in the London Borough of Camden Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Leaders of local authorities of England