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Councillor Profiles
Canonbury
Councillor Paula Belford
Paula has lived in Islington all her life, as have five generations of her family. She lives on the Dover Court estate, off the Essex Road, with her family. Paula has been very involved in community activities in Islington for a number of years, including running sports clubs and youth activities and representing her estate. Paula was elected in 2006, and was quickly promoted to be the Liberal Democrat group Chief Whip. In May 2009 she was appointed as the Executive Member for Children and Young People, she is currently the Liberal Democrat council group Chief Whip. She spends much of her time helping local residents with housing problems, visiting and keeping an eye out for elderly neighbours and encouraging young people to get more involved in their communities.
Email: paula.belford@islington.gov.uk
Clerkenwell
Councillor George Allan
Before being elected as a councillor in 1998, George had an active role in a variety of environmental groups in and around Clerkenwell for more than 20 years. He is particularly interested in planning and heritage issues and chaired the council's South Area Planning Committee previously. In May 2009 he was appointed Deputy Mayor and was also the Vice-Chair of the council's South Area Committee until May 2010.
George was until recently a governor at Clerkenwell Parochial primary school.
Fax: 020 7527 3008
Email: george.allan@islington.gov.uk
Highbury East
Councillor John Gilbert
John is the Shadow Executive Member for Finance. He was formerly the Executive Member for Finance when the council was run by the Lib Dems. He was in charge of the council's money and leading on the Liberal Democrat commitment to deliver value for money while keeping council tax down. From 2006 to 2008 he was Executive Member for Adult Social Services and was proud to oversee improvements in services for older and vulnerable residents which led Government assessors to award Islington the highest "4-star" ranking for its adult social services.
John has lived in Highbury for around twenty years and is an active member of Christ Church, Highbury. He was, until recently, a governor of St John's School, Highbury Vale, and is currently a governor of the Cripplegate Foundation and a trustee of Housing Justice - a national church-based housing charity he got involved in through volunteering at the Islington churches' winter night shelter for homeless people. John is married with 2 grown-up children and 3 still at home, all of whom have attended school in Islington. By profession, John is a solicitor, having previously worked as an overseas civil servant.
Email: john.gilbert@islington.gov.uk
Councillor Terry Stacy
Terry is the Leader of the Islington Liberal Democrat council group and Leader of the Opposition on Islington Council. He is also the Shadow Executive Member for Housing. He has been a councillor since 1998 - in Islington since 2002 and previously in Tower Hamlets, east London for 4 years. He has a background in public sector housing, regeneration and community safety having worked at a senior level in a number of local authorities and Housing Associations.
Terry is Chair of Island Homes, a community based housing association in east London, which is part of One Housing Group; a tenant director of the Independent Housing Ombudsman Service and a member of the London Housing Board, which is part of the Homes & Communities agency and chaired by the Mayor of London. He is a Housing Association tenant himself in Highbury and a Tenant Inspection Adviser to the Audit Commission.
Before becoming a councillor, Terry was a freelance consultant with a London-based regeneration agency, where he headed up over £25million worth of regeneration funds across a number of boroughs in the capital.
Terry is a governor at Highbury Quadrant school and is a member of several local organisations such as Olden Community Gardens, Sotheby Road Conservation Society, the Highbury Fields Association and Highbury Community Association.
Email: terry.stacy@islington.gov.uk
Councillor Julie Horten
Julie lives with her husband in Highbury. She is a governor at Highbury Grove School and has been delighted by the recently completed re-building works.
Julie has a long-standing passion and commitment to improving school standards in Islington and was formerly a governor at Drayton Park and Canonbury primary schools.
Julie is an ardent Arsenal fan and enjoys watching them play whenever she can.
Hillrise
Councillor Lorraine Constantinou
Lorraine Constantinou (formerly Lorraine O'Neill), came to England from Ireland over 50 years ago with her mother and her family. Lorraine grew up in Dublin but for the last 30 years she has been an Islington resident, living on the Elthorne Estate in Hillrise ward.
Lorraine manages a housing co-operative on the Elthorne Estate, helping residents with housing issues and ensuring the estate is well-maintained. She is an active community campaigner and is particularly interested in issues affecting fellow pensioners and in community safety. Lorraine is a member of the police Safer Neighbourhood Panel and successfully campaigned to get a dispersal zone on the Elthorne Estate to give the police extra powers to deal with troublemakers.
Councillor Greg Foxsmith
Greg was the Council's Lead Councillor for the Environment up to May 2010. He championed green issues and was proud to see Islington winning awards for its climate change and sustainability work. Under the Lib Dems, Islington also increased the amount of rubbish we recycle to nearly 35% (from 3% ). Greg is now the Shadow Executive Member for Planning, Regeneration and Transport.
By background Greg is a civil liberties lawyer in a legal aid practice specialising in criminal defence. His legal and voluntary work in rehabilitating ex-offenders got him national recognition for his mentoring programme (as featured on BBC documentary "Make me Honest"). He has commented on various issues for programmes on radio and TV, and even once appeared as a guest on Richard and Judy!
Nationally, Greg campaigns on law and order issues, against ID cards and the government's ongoing programme of legal aid cuts which are disenfranchising people from their legal rights. He is a member of Liberty, the Howard League for Penal Reform and Amnesty International.
Locally, Greg has campaigned for improvements in local parks and for improved road safety. A keen motorcyclist and cyclist, Greg is also a supporter of local sports clubs including Elthorne Boxing Club, which he has raised money for.
He is married to Sonya and has two children, Adam, who attends Ashmount School, and Daniel, who is at Margaret McMillan nursery, where Greg is one of the Governors. Greg has a profile on Facebook - so feel free to add him to your friends list.
Email: greg.foxsmith@islington.gov.uk
Junction
Councillor Ursula Woolley
Ursula was the Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Children & Young People for three years up to May 2009. She helped steer Islington's rapid improvement in school results and the major refurbishment programme of the borough's school buildings. Ursula then became Executive Member for Adult Social Care & Health and Deputy Leader of the Council up to May 2010.
Prior to her election as a councillor Ursula was a senior manager abroad for the British Council, working in several countries in eastern Europe and developing partnerships with the UK.
Ursula is a parent of three children, is a school governor at Hargrave Park primary school and lives near Archway.
Fax: 020 7527 3008
Email: ursula.woolley@islington.gov.uk
Councillor Arthur Graves
Arthur is Shadow Executive Member for Environment. He also sits on the Licensing Committee and scrutinises the council's work on housing and community safety. Arthur and his family live on Tufnell Park Road. Arthur is firmly committed to the local community and is a member of the Junction Safer Neighbourhood Panel, Tufnell Park Parents' Support Group, Tufnell Park Road Residents' Group, Islington Gardeners, Islington Historical Society, Friends of the Whittington Hospital, the Archway Town Centre Management Group and Friends of Whittington Park. He takes an active interest in the work of the Better Archway Forum and attends meetings of the Islington Community Police Consultative Group.
He was councillor for Belsize Ward in Camden from 2006 - 2010.
Phone: 07914 658 777
Email: arthurgraves@islington.gov.uk
Mildmay
Councillor Rhodri Jamieson-Ball
Rhodri first moved into Islington in 2000 and was elected as councillor in Mildmay ward in May 2006. As an active local campaigner, Rhodri has campaigned for more council housing for local residents, improved parks in Mildmay and better policing. Rhodri is also active in the community, being a board member of the Mildmay Community Partnership, a trustee of the Room to Heal charity and a member of Mildmay Neighbourhood Management Steering Group. Until recently, Rhodri was also a governor of Newington Green School.
Rhodri was the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Islington North at the last general election winning 27% of the vote and ensuring the LibDems came second in the constituency..
On the council, Rhodri has been the Chair of East Area Committee, Vice-Chair of the Sustainability Review Committee and Vice-Chair of East Area Planning Sub-committee. He is currently the Shadow Executive Member for Crime and Community Safety and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat council group.
Email: rhodri.jamieson-ball@islington.gov.uk
St George's
Councillor Tracy Ismail
Tracy Ismail has lived in Islington for over ten years with her partner, who is Islington born and bred. She has two daughters. Tracy's partner is a Turkish Cypriot and most family holidays are spent in Northern Cyprus.
Tracy was Chair of the council's Licensing Committee until May 2010 and a member of the the Licensing Regulatory Committee. She is currently an ordinary member of the Licensing Committee. Tracy is also currently the Shadow Executive Member for Adult Social Care & Health as well as a board member of Homes for Islington. She is also a governor at Tufnell Park primary school.
Tracy was born in Pakistan, and also lived in Spain, Holland, Lebanon and South Africa while growing up. She believes this experience made her very well rounded and tolerant of other peoples beliefs and cultures.
Email: tracy.ismail@islington.gov.uk
Councillor David Wilson
David is a television director, and has lived in Tufnell Park Road with his family for over 25 years.
He was involved in the planning discussions which led to the refurbishment the House on the Rock and he has been involved in several neighbourhood community groups for more than 20 years.
St Mary's
Councillor Susan Buchanan
Susan first moved to Islington in 1982 and now lives off Liverpool Road. During this time she has been active within the community as a local campaigner and also as a member of local organisations - currently the Islington Business Partnership, Islington Chamber of Commerce and Friends of the Union Chapel. She is the mother of a teenage son and runs a design business in the ward.
Her wide experience of life and Islington enables her to connect and empathise with people in many different situations. As a mother she is concerned with safety on the streets and in the home. Other personal issues are tighter controls on licensing, improving housing conditions and civil liberties.
Susan is particularly interested in environmental issues and is keen to see Islington's unique nature preserved - retaining its historical legacy balanced by enhancing modernisation to create a borough that the local community can be proud of. She has been active in helping to raise funds to repair the Union Chapel tower and has spoken out in favour of removing unnecessary street furniture and clutter locally, as well as licensing problems.
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