Caledonian Ward Councillor Una O’Halloran is elected new Leader of Islington Council

On the evening of Monday 4th November, Islington’s 43 Labour Councillors elected Caledonian Ward Councillor Una O’Halloran as the new Leader of Islington Council. Three other senior Councillors also stood in the contest but Una won it overwhelmingly on the first ballot.

Cllr Sara Hyde says: “I’m totally and utterly thrilled to see my brilliant ward colleague and good friend become leader of our Council. She is hard-working, kind and a champion for social justice and equality always. It’s brilliant news for our borough, she’s a star. As the first Islington Council Leader who is also a Council tenant, she’s firmly on the side of residents. She wants to get the basics right, get a firm grip on the organisation, and get the most for Islington out of the new Labour Government.

Paul Convery adds: “Sara and I are both absolutely delighted with Una’s election as Leader. She didn’t win based on a 2 week-long contest. Una won it from 10 years of consistent hard work, relationship building and sturdy pragmatic common sense. This was a decisive result which shows Una has authority, deep support and enormous goodwill from her Labour colleagues. She’s been elected to achieve a shift of gear in the Council”.

Monday night’s result was also a hat trick for Una: in the past fortnight she and Ray had their 40th wedding anniversary; they both received Benemerenti medals from the Pope; and now she’s been elected Leader of the Council.

Una is the first Labour Leader representing a south Islington ward for almost 40 years.

Like her immediate predecessor, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, Una is Islington born and raised. Her parents came to London from Ireland and made Islington their home. Una attended secondary school at La Sainte Union and, before her election to the Council, she worked as a school Teaching Assistant and was a GMB workplace representative.

Una was first elected to Islington Council in May 2014 representing Caledonian. She was Islington’s Mayor 2017-18 and became the full-time Executive Member for Communities in 2019. From 2022 she has held the high profile portfolio responsibility for housing and communities.

Una will be formally confirmed as Leader at a special Council meeting on 19th November.

Sara, Una and Paul are pictured above at the Town Hall after Una’s election.