LDN Weekly – Issue 324 – 11 July 2024 – London's Holy Trinity

LONDON'S HOLY TRINITY

Dear Reader,

London has a Labour Government, Labour Mayor and Labour-controlled London Councils for the first time since May 2006. In our adversarial politics, this alignment – a political Holy Trinity – has the potential to make a big difference as politicians of the same persuasion generally work better together. Both Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson claim to have achieved more as Mayor during the periods with their own parties in government.

In stark contrast, Sadiq Khan has only ever had Conservative governments – and five Prime Ministers to boot. And for extended periods, the political landscape was toxic and the clashes between City Hall and Whitehall are well documented.

So Labour’s General Election victory presents an opportunity for a re-set and the first few days are encouraging. Already, the Prime Minister’s whistlestop tour around the four nations is charting a new course in the way of working with administrations in Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh. On day five, squeezed in before Keir Starmer jetted off to the NATO summit in Washington DC, Metro mayors gathered in 10 Downing Street. Not only did the previous Prime Minister refuse to meet with the mayors, this is the first time they’ve collectively ever met with any Prime Minister.

Metro mayors represent 44% of England’s (mostly urban) population and have a collective budget of around £25bn. With huge convening power, Starmer knows mayors can be a partner in delivery, and the Prime Minister talks of local leaders having ‘skin in the game’ as a way of driving better decision making that promotes growth.

Of course, the mayors are thirsty for more powers. At the very least, those outside London want what Sadiq Khan has – but Khan himself will be reminding his Mayoral colleagues that London should not be the limit of ambition – devolution needs to go much further on all fronts.

No doubt yesterday’s meeting saw the full shopping list of asks come out – rail devolution, more flexibility on affordable housing, planning powers. Some asks will come with costs attached – iron Chancellor Rachel Reeves will be watching like a hawk.

But Starmer and his team will also have their own asks – perhaps even demands. Building homes and infrastructure is a top priority – the new Government will want mayors to speed up permissions, approve more homes and be bolder in facing down opposition. Angela Rayner talks of a more muscular interventionist approach to planning – will mayors, and council leaders, follow suit or leave Rayner to take the flak?

And as we cover in today’s LDN, 20 ministers in the new government are London MPs. This is on top of 59 of 412 Labour MPs being from London, and a string of London councillors elected to Parliament outside of the city. There ought to be a stronger voice for London within Whitehall than we’ve seen for some years, which should be a positive.

But with the previous government open to accusations that it ignored London (or worse – deliberately demonised it), might the new Government instead take the city for granted? The warning signs for Labour were plain to see in last week’s results – sharp falls in many of the party’s majorities, independents running some MPs close and the Greens now the opposition to Labour in 18 constituencies. Taking London for granted could come with its own political risks for Labour.

For those of you who didn’t see our special post-election edition of LDN last Friday covering all the results and analysis, you can have a read here.

Nick Bowes, Managing Director, Insight

nb@londoncommunications.co.uk

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LONDON'S NEW MINISTERS

Benchmarking:  As well as Prime Minister Keir Starmer (also MP for Holborn & St Pancras), so far twenty of London’s 59 Labour MPs have bagged ministerial jobs in the new Government. Three sit around the Cabinet table – Tottenham’s David Lammy is Foreign Secretary, Wes Streeting – who narrowly held his Ilford North constituency – is Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, and Streatham & Croydon North’s Steve Reed takes over at DEFRA.

Treasured moments: Ealing North’s James Murray and Hampstead & Highgate’s Tulip Siddiq move into key roles they both shadowed in opposition as Exchequer Secretary and City Minister respectively.

New brass plaque: Over at the re-named Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (now MHCLG again), Greenwich & Woolwich’s Matthew Pennycook has been appointed Minister of State, and looks like taking on the crucial role of housing and planning. He’s joined in the department by Bethnal Green & Stepney’s Rushanara Ali.

London's Labour ministers

Greater London: Also taking on roles are Ellie Reeves and Abena Oppong-Asare (Cabinet Office), Catherine West (Foreign Office), Seema Malhotra (Home Office), Janet Daby (Education), Sarah Jones (Energy & Net Zero), Stephen Timms (Work & Pensions), Gareth Thomas (Business & Trade), Feryal Clark (Science, Innovation & Technology) and Fleur Anderson (Northern Ireland).

New entries: In a surprise move, three newly-elected MPs skip the traditional backbench apprenticeship jumping straight to the frontbench. Georgia Gould (Cabinet Office) and Miatta Fahnbulleh (Energy Security and Net Zero) become Parliamentary Under-Secretaries, with Finchley & Golders Green’s Sarah Sackman appointed Solicitor General. Lewisham North’s Vicky Foxcroft is also a Government Whip.

London Transport Takeover: A canny appointment that caught many by surprise sees Lord Peter Hendy become Minister of State in the Department for Transport. Hendy is a great survivor, having seen the transfer between Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson’s Mayoral regimes, appointed Network Rail Chair by a Tory Government, Chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation by Mayor Sadiq Khan. Hendy is widely respected in the transport sector after a five-decade career that saw him running Transport for London and chairing Network Rail. Given his appointment, he relinquishes the Network Rail and LLDC roles with immediate effect. 

Missing Link: One appointment so far missing is Minister of London. Will this be tagged on to another minister’s responsibilities? Or will there even be one? LDN will be watching developments closely.

Opposition watch: Leader of the Opposition Rishi Sunak has moved quickly to appoint a Shadow Cabinet from his somewhat depleted ranks of MPs. With only nine London MPs, there’s not a large pool to draw from, but Croydon South MP Chris Philp takes over as Shadow Leader of the House and Hornchurch & Upminster’s Julia Lopez becomes Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East, has been elected as Chair of the 1922 committee.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Parliament has welcomed 22 new London MPs, fresh from weeks of door-knocking and campaigning. London has seen a lower churn of MPs than other regions, in large part driven by so many of the city’s constituencies already having Labour MPs even before last week’s landslide. Over the coming weeks, we’ll introduce you to some of the new faces, and here are six to start with:

• Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet (Labour, Majority: 2,914)
  A former Tower Hamlets councillor and economist with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Tomlinson has shown little restraint in criticising the anti-development views of his Conservative predecessor, Theresa Villiers. He’s also challenged the idea that Labour’s new suburban and rural MPs will be a growing NIMBY caucus. It will be interesting to see how he handles forthcoming planning applications in his constituency.
  
  
• Nesil Caliskan, MP for Barking (Labour, Majority: 11,504)
  Caliskan’s entry to the House of Commons came following the sudden withdrawal of Cllr Darren Rodwell, leader of the local council, over allegations of misconduct - he’s since been cleared of any wrongdoing. His replacement Caliskan brings a wealth of local government, leadership and development knowledge, with a history of being pro house building. Under her leadership, Enfield Council battled City Hall over proposals to build on the Green Belt – given the Labour’s government stated desire to revisit the Green Belt, she’ll be well placed to offer advice. Enfield Council will have to find a new leader in the coming weeks. 
  
  
• Rachel Blake, MP for Cities of London & Westminster (Labour, Majority: 2,708)
  Yes you heard it right: the Square Mile, 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace have a Labour MP for the very first time. Selected in 2022, the Tower Hamlets councillor Rachel Blake had the benefit of a long lead in time as a candidate to generate support in the Two Cities. She brings a wealth of experience in economic growth and regeneration policy, having worked on housing strategy at Barking & Dagenham Council, as well as leading on housing on Tower Hamlets Council and a brief spell working for a housebuilder.
  
  
• Danny Beales, MP for Uxbridge & South Ruislip (Labour, Majority: 587)
  Second time lucky for Camden Cabinet Member for New Homes, Danny Beales. Just missing out in the July 2023 by-election by 495 votes in a campaign heavily influenced by opposition to the Mayor of London’s ULEZ expansion, this time around Beales beat the same opponent but by the equally narrow margin of just 587 votes.
  
  
• Paul Kohler, MP for Wimbledon (Liberal Democrat, Majority: 12,610)
  Winning the three-way marginal of Wimbledon for the Lib Dems was Merton councillor and legal academic Paul Kohler. Kohler first made national news following a brutal assault in his own home in 2014, and he’s since championed compassionate justice and forgave his attacker, while successfully campaigning against the closure of Wimbledon Police Station. With this big win for the Lib Dems, Merton Labour will be nervously eyeing any further inroads the Lib Dems might make in the borough in the run up to the local elections, now less than two years away.
  
  
• Peter Fortune, MP for Bromley and Biggin Hill (Conservative, Majority: 302)
  Former London Assembly member Peter Fortune squeaked home with a small majority, despite some predictions the rock-solid Tory seat might fall to Labour. A former local journalist and longstanding Bromley councillor, during his time on the Assembly Fortune proved an effective scrutineer of the Mayor.

POLICY PROGRESS

Hard launch: The new Government has certainly hit the ground running, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, kicking off the week with her first major speech. Reeves focused on the core aim of boosting economic growth with changes to the planning system to increase the delivery of homes and new infrastructure.

Going for growth: Reeves announced that a consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) will launch before the end of July and will include the reintroduction of mandatory housing targets. Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner will also write to local authorities, setting out what will be expected of them, including universal coverage of local plans and reviews of Green Belt boundaries. Rayner and Reeves even found time to don the hard hats and hi vis jackets to visit Berkeley’s scheme in Oval Village.

*ICYMI: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has reverted to the previous name of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), keeping the brass plaque industry busy.

Stalled site squad: A taskforce to drive the delivery of housing on ‘stalled’ sites will be set up, starting with Liverpool Central Docks, Worcester Parkway, Northstowe and Langley Sutton Coldfield, collectively representing over 14,000 homes.

Stepping in: Reeves confirmed that Rayner had already recovered appeals for two applications for data centres in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. Both planning applications were refused by the relevant local authorities as the schemes are both sites are located on the Green Belt.

Turbo turbines: On the infrastructure front, the Government took decisive action by lifting the ban on onshore wind developments. Energy projects that are already in the pipeline will be prioritised to ‘ensure that they make swift progress’ and that decisions on large projects will be made at the national, rather than local, level.

Funding frenzy: Also this week, the Chancellor launched plans for the new National Wealth Fund, which brings together the UK Infrastructure Bank and the British Business Bank. The Fund will use public money to unlock private investment in infrastructure and green energy projects, including ports, gigafactories and clean steel, with the aim of securing £3 of private investment for every £1 of public money. Further details are to be set out at the Global Investment Summit, pencilled in for early October.

Twelve mayors-a-mayoring: The 12 Metro mayors headed to Downing Street on Tuesday to meet with the Prime Minister and Rayner, kickstarting ‘a major programme of devolution’ and a ‘reset’ in the relationship between Government and the regions. In a spirit of cooperation, PM Starmer had 15 minutes 1-1 with the one Tory Mayor, Ben Houchen. The meeting also marked the beginning of the process of establishing Local Growth Plans in each area. Following the meeting, Sadiq Khan whisked the mayors away on an electric bus for further discussions at Transport for London’s headquarters.

• The first public consultation regarding RIBA’s plans to refurbish their headquarters in Marylebone has concluded. RIBA is looking to deliver the ‘House of Architecture’, an investment and modernisation programme focused on their HQ, world class architectural collections and digital offering to members. At Portland Place this would see the Grade-II listed headquarters sensitively retrofitted. Designed by Benedetti Architects, the building would be refurbished to add a new architectural collections centre, enhanced events and exhibition spaces, a new café and improved streetscene, as well as retrofitting to improve energy performance. A second consultation is expected later this year.
  
  
• Berkeley Group subsidiary St William has unveiled designs for revised plans for two residential buildings of 356 homes (35% affordable) up to 38 storeys at  Fulham Gas Works. They are amendments to the original outline masterplan, consented in February 2019, changed to conform with building safety guidance on second staircases.
  
  
• The Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission has launched a design contest to select an architecture team for the memorial to commemorate the 72 people who died in the 2017 fire. The memorial will be sensitively designed in close collaboration with survivors and residents, supported by funding from the Government. 
  
  
• Camden Council has launched a public consultation on plans to pedestrianise Camden High Street, banning all traffic during an 18 month trial period if approved. The consultation for the pedestrianisation will also include engagement with community groups on the delivery of a collaborative arts and culture programme for the area. The consultation closes on 30 August.
  
  
• Waltham Forest Council has formally adopted the supplementary planning document (SPD) for the development of the 5,400-home (undetermined affordable percentage) Leyton Mills development. The proposals include indicative outline plans for residential development in buildings up to a maximum of 17 storeys, over 40,000 sqm of office floorspace, 40,000 sqm of industrial and logistics space, and over 30,000 sqm of cultural, community and retail space.
  
  
• John Lewis Partnership has been criticised for failing to commit to 35% affordable housing for its proposed 353-home Build-to-Rent development in Bromley. Only 8% of the homes will be offered as affordable rents due to JLP being unsuccessful in securing grant funding from the GLA. JLP is in negotiations with Bromley Council ahead of a decision expected at committee on 25 July.

• As stated above, Chair of Network Rail and the London Legacy Development Corporation, Lord Peter Hendy, has resigned both roles with immediate effect following his appointment as Minister of State for Rail. The LLDC has said the Mayor of London is ‘well advanced’ in selecting a successor to Hendy.
  
  
• Leader of Ealing Council, Cllr Peter Mason, has been elected as Deputy Leader of the Labour Group on the Local Government Association, under Leader of Manchester City Council, Cllr Bev Craig. As the largest group on the Association, LGA Labour also selected the Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cllr Louise Gittins, as the overall LGA Chair following the election of Shaun Davies as MP for Telford.
  
  
• Editor of City AM Andy Silvester is stepping down after five years leading the publication. Silvester joined the newspaper in 2019 from the Sun where was Head of PR and an editorial column writer.
  
  
• Building supplier Travis Perkins has appointed Pete Redfern as Chief Executive. Redfern is the former Chief Executive of Taylor Wimpey, departing in 2022 after 21 years with the developer.
  
  
• Co-Founder of Bell Phillips Architects, Hari Phillps, is to step down as a Director of the practice after 20 years in the role. The Wapping-based practice will see promotions to director level for Jay Morton, Tom Morgan and Melissa Dowler, to lead the strategic direction of the business.
  
  
• Olympian Homes has appointed Richard Simpson as new Chief Executive. Simpson is the former CEO of Watkin Jones Group and stepped down in July 2023 after four and a half years with the developer.
  
  
• Chief Executive of DWS UK, Jessica Hardman, is leaving the real estate firm to establish a new investment management business in partnership with developer Downing. Hardman’s new company, named Aboria Capital, is to focus on delivering Downing’s £1.6bn construction pipeline. 
  
  
• Former Managing Director for Greater London at Segro, Alan Holland, has been appointed as Chief Executive of DP World’s London Gateway Logistics Park at the Thames Freeport in Thurrock.

WE RECOMMEND

• The Times’ six Labour MPs to watch.
• What it’s like to live in 10 Downing Street.
• Our very own Sam Griffiths’ take on how realistic Labour’s planning reforms are.
• How London has changed over the past 14 years.
• The key advisers and strategists in the new Government.
• How – and why – chicken shops have become fixtures of our high streets.
• City A.M. editor Andy Silvester’s look at how the currently planning system is holding up the expansion of Wimbledon.
• Keir Starmer and the ‘Kentish Town crew’.

LDN CONTRIBUTORS 

LCA prides itself on its intelligence-led approach to PR and communications and our dedicated insight team monitors London politics, news and issues as it happens.

If you would like to know more about LCA or anything in this edition of LDN – London in short please get in touch. 

Nick Bowes

Managing Director, Insight

Robert Gordon Clark

Senior Advisor and Partner

Emily Clinton

Account Manager, Insight 

 Daniel Reast

Insight Executive

Design:  Aroa Maquedano Pulido:

We strive for balance and accuracy at all times; however, if you feel we have made a mistake, omission or have misrepresented a story or issue please alert the team by contacting the LDN team by using the details above.

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