Sir Steve Bullock (born 1953) is a British politician who served as the first directly elected mayor of the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Meridian passes thr ...

from 2002 to 2018.

Early life

Born in

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a populatio ...

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used ...

, Bullock began his career as a van driver for

Saltburn and Marske-by-the-Sea Saltburn, Marske and New Marske is a civil parish in Redcar and Cleveland in north-east England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 18,325 increasing to 19,134 at the 2011 census. As its name suggests, the parish includes ...

Urban District Council in 1972. He later worked as a policy adviser for

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office ...

at the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

, as Chief Executive of Greenwich Community Health Council and as Head of the Labour Group Office at the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association. The LGA is p ...

. Having served on the independent Commission for Local Democracy, Bullock was a founder member of the

New Local Government Network New Local, formerly known as the New Local Government Network, is an independent think tank and Local government in England, local government network with a mission to transform public services and unlock community power. It was founded in 1996, a ...

Political career

Elected to the London Borough of Lewisham council in 1982, Bullock then went on to serve as Chair of Finance, Chair of Leisure, Deputy Leader, and Leader of the Council prior to standing down from the council in 1998. Following this, he served as Chair of

University Hospital Lewisham University Hospital Lewisham (formerly known as Lewisham Hospital) is a teaching hospital run by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and serving the London Borough of Lewisham. It is now affiliated with King's College London and forms part of the K ...

NHS Trust An NHS trust is an organisational unit within the National Health Services of England and Wales, generally serving either a geographical area or a specialised function (such as an ambulance service). In any particular location there may be several ...

. Bullock's partner is Kris Hibbert, a former fellow councillor. In 2001, Bullock was elected back to Lewisham council in a by-election before seeking the Labour nomination for the new post of elected mayor, having publicly supported the proposal (as chair of the hospital trust) in the October referendum campaign. He was subsequently elected in the first mayoral election. Bullock was re-elected in the May 2006 Lewisham mayoral poll and became the Labour vice-chair of the

Association of London Government 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 Ass ...

later that year. He also served as Deputy Leader of the Local Government Association Labour Group. Bullock was re-elected as Mayor of Lewisham in the May 2010 election and again in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

. He was the London Council's Executive lead for Housing and Vice-chair of Homes for London.

New Bermondsey

Bullock became involved in a controversy in January 2017 regarding his links to former colleagues (Dave Sullivan and others) who set up a company called Renewal, which bought land near

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

's football stadium,

The New Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which i ...

. In 2016 the company asked Lewisham for a CPO (

Compulsory Purchase Order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for p ...

) for Lewisham to buy up land leased by the football club. There was a suggestion that the club would have to leave the area. The plan was eventually withdrawn, and an Enquiry set up to examine the issue by Lord Dyson a former Master of the Rolls. Lord Dyson's report in late 2017 ruled that there had been “no impropriety, lack of due diligence or breach of a code of practice on the part of any Council officer or member”.

Honours

Bullock was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are ...

in the

2007 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2007 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 17 June 2007, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2007.Antigua & Barbuda list: The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

for services to local government. Following his retirement as mayor he was commissioned by the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir

Kenneth Olisa Sir Kenneth Aphunezi Olisa (born 13 October 1951) is a British businessman and philanthropist. He is the first mixed heritage Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London. He founded and led the AIM-listed technology merchant bank Interregnum and now le ...

OBE to serve as the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for Lewisham.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bullock, Steve 1954 births Labour Party (UK) councillors Mayors of places in Greater London Councillors in the London Borough of Lewisham Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London Knights Bachelor Living people People from Redcar Labour Party (UK) mayors Politicians awarded knighthoods Leaders of local authorities of England