Joseph Ejiofor: New Leader of Haringey Council

Not since Bernie Grant in 1985, has Haringey Council had a Black leader, but last week the ruling Labour group elected Joseph Ejiofor to become its new leader.

Cllr Ejiofor, who served as deputy leader during Claire Kober’s administration, secured the most votes at Haringey Labour branch’s annual general meeting

The result means he is likely to be sworn in as new council leader at the Full Council AGM next Thursday, May 24.

He tweeted:

Very grateful and humble to have gained the confidence of Haringey Labour Councillors and been elected as the Leader of Haringey Labour Group this evening.

Ejiofor has had an extraordinary rise to high office in which he has been firmly based in grass roots activism.

Ejiofor cut his community activism teeth working with Lee Jasper at the then 1990 Trust. He also worked extensively with Operation Black Vote, and the Black Londoners Forum, working on campaigns that would highlight the power of the Black vote in any election.

Now that Black and white vote has come out for Ejiofor, and today he now stands as one of the few Black local elected leaders, not just in the UK but also across Europe.

In many ways what we’ve seen over the last few weeks has been remarkable fruits from grass roots activism leading to elected high office. When you consider the recent election of Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz to Newham Council and now Joe Ejiofor, both former employees of the 1990 Trust, coupled with Mayor Marvin Rees, from Operation Black Vote, these organisations have nurtured BME leaders we can be truly proud of.

Good luck to Joe and of course Rokhsana. Your challenges are huge, but both your journeys have equipped you for this moment.

Simon Woolley