Kaya Comer-Schwartz, has stepped down as the Leader of Islington Council after being appointed as London Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime on 11 October.
Diarmaid Ward has become the Acting Leader of Islington Council.
Comer-Schwartz had served Islington for 11 years as a councillor focusing on violence against women and youth crime, after working in the charity sector.
She will continue to improve women’s welfare in Greater London in her new position, but in “a partnership with the charity sector, the police, and local authorities”.
A collaborative effort she looks forward to is furthering the list of the most prolific perpetrators of violence against women, which is created by the Metropolitan Police.
She will also prioritise victims’ experience, hear expertise and mobilise local authorities.
She said it is the “biggest dream” to serve the city she lived in her whole life, and she was “so proud of the things my team and I have been able to achieve”.
“The road was made smoother for me,” she says about her predecessor Sophie Linden, who has taken up a new position as a senior adviser to Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.
“She’s done amazing work…but there’s still a long way to go.”
Comer-Schwartz’s previous achievements include building new council homes, investing £2 million on services for survivors of violence against women and girls, and waiving council tax of 8,000 of the lowest income households in Islington.
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