Councillor Judith Blakeman nominated for Mayoral election

09 May 2012

Councillor Judith Blakeman, who served as Deputy Mayor of the Royal Borough between 2007 and 2008, has been nominated by the Labour Group as its Mayoral candidate in the election that will take place at the Council's Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 23 May 2012.

Councillor Blakeman has been a Royal Borough councillor for 30 years. First elected in Kelfield ward in 1978, she served until 1990, when she had to stand down owing to the competing pressures of full-time employment. She was re-elected as a councillor for Avondale ward in 1994 and since May 2002 has represented Notting Barns ward.

Commenting on her nomination, Councillor Blakeman said: "I am very honoured to have been nominated by the Labour Group to stand in the election for Mayor of the Royal Borough. This will be a very exciting year for the Mayor as the Diamond Jubilee and Olympic celebrations will make it a very special one."

Councillor Blakeman was Leader of the Labour Group between 1988 and 1990 and again since May 2009. She has served on many influential Council committees including: the Administration Committee, the Family and Children's Services Scrutiny Committee, the Licensing Panel and the Cabinet and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee, which she has chaired since May 2011. Between 2007 and 2008 she also chaired a high profile review of health inequalities in the borough.

Councillor Blakeman was educated at Putney High School and the London School of Economics, where she obtained a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and a Master's degree in Industrial Relations. Subsequently she worked as a trade union official, firstly as Assistant General Secretary of the Association of Broadcasting Staff and then National Organiser for BECTU, the broadcasting, media and entertainment union. In 1997 she was appointed General Secretary of Arts for Labour and in 2006 she retired from full-time employment.

Her other special interests on the Council include housing, working with the voluntary and community sector and improving the local environment. She is particularly proud that the Notting Barns Live ward initiative, which she leads, has brought together local residents with excellent ideas for improving the locality, many of which are now being progressed.

If elected, Councillor Blakeman will appoint Councillor Bob Mingay as her Deputy Mayor and her Mayoral Charity will be Full of Life, a self-help group managed by parents of children with learning disabilities in Kensington and Chelsea.