Jas Athwal

Jas Athwal (/ˈətwæl/; born September 1963) is a British Labour Party politician who currently serves as the Leader of Redbridge London Borough Council.

Early life and education

Athwal was born in Punjab, India and lived there until his family relocated to Ilford, London when he was seven years old. In Ilford, his mother worked at 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.

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.

Political career

Backbench Councillor (2010-2011)

In the 2010 local elections, Athwal was elected as a Labour councillor for the Mayfield ward on Redbridge London Borough Council, taking the seat from the Conservative Party with a majority of 1368 votes.

Leader of Redbridge Labour Group (2011-2014)

Athwal was elected to lead the Labour Group on Redbridge Council on 11 October 2011, with 15 of the 21 votes, beating Cllrs Stuart Bellwood and Andy Walker. 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-Liberal Democrat coalition.

Leader of Redbridge Council

Following the 2014 local elections, Athwal became the first Labour majority Leader of Redbridge Council.

He supported the Dubs amendment for unaccompanied children in Calais and in 2016, visited the Calais 'jungle' refugee camp.

Athwal made council housing a key part of his administration's programme, having built the first new council houses in 10 years in Redbridge after taking control of the council in 2014. He has a target to build 1000 new affordable homes in an effort to end homelessness in Redbridge.

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 came out in support of a People's Vote on any Brexit deal. He took part in the People's Vote march on 23 March 2019.

In 2019, Athwal was elected Executive member for Crime and Public Protection of London Councils, the local government association that represents London's 32 Borough Councils.

Shortly before the 2019 general election, Athwal attempted to be selected to be the Labour parliamentary candidate for his home constituency of Ilford South and was considered the front-runner in the contest. Athwal was suspended from the party on the evening before members were due to vote, on the basis of "serious allegations". Athwal denied the allegations and called for due process. Sam Tarry, Athwal's rival in the contest, was subsequently selected in a vote a few weeks later, with both Athwal and third candidate, local CLPD activist Sonia Klein, who had stepped aside to support Athwal, excluded from the ballot.

The timing of Athwal's suspension on the evening before the vote, was publicly questioned by neighbouring MP, Wes Streeting, since Tarry had close links to Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Labour Party.

In October 2019 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".

Controversy

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 lives in Ilford, London, is married and has four children.