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British Labour Party politician (born 1963) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jasbir Singh Athwal[1] (/ˈdʒæz ˈæθwɒl/,[2] born September 1963) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the MP for Ilford South since July 2024. He previously served as Leader of Redbridge London Borough Council from 2014 to 2024.
Jas Athwal | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2024. | |
| Member of Parliament for Ilford South | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Sam Tarry |
| Majority | 6,896 (16.8%) |
| Leader of Redbridge London Borough Council | |
| In office 12 June 2014 – 25 July 2024 | |
| Deputy | Kam Rai |
| Preceded by | Keith Prince |
| Succeeded by | Kam Rai |
| Member of Redbridge London Borough Council for Mayfield | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2010 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 1963 (age 61) Punjab, India |
| Political party | Labour |
| Residence(s) | Ilford, London |
| Education | Mayfield School |
| Website | jasathwal |
Jas Athwal was born in the Punjab state in India, in September 1963,[3] into a Punjabi Sikh family. When Jas was seven years old, his father relocated to Ilford, in London, England to work at a Ford factory, before being joined a few years later by Jas and his mother, neither of whom spoke English at the time. His mother worked at home sewing ties.[4] He attended Mayfield School in Ilford.[5]
Athwal founded and owned children's nursery businesses in Derby and Essex, which are now owned by his wife.[6][7][8] One of these companies was criticised by Ofsted over breaching child safety rules at three of its properties. The problems have now been resolved and the nurseries are ranked "good" by Ofsted.[7]
In the 2010 local elections, Athwal was elected as a Labour councillor for the Mayfield ward on Redbridge London Borough Council, taking the seat from the Conservative Party with a majority of 1368 votes.[9]
Athwal was elected to lead the Labour Group on Redbridge Council on 11 October 2011, with 15 of the 21 votes. This followed a vote of no confidence in the previous leader, Cllr Bob Littlewood.[10][11]
In the 2014 local elections, Athwal led the Redbridge Labour Party to win its first ever majority on Redbridge Council, gaining 11 seats to give Labour a total of 35 of the 63 seats, winning control from the incumbent Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.[12] Athwal was elected to serve as the first-ever Labour majority Leader of Redbridge Council.[13] Wes Streeting, later elected as Member of Parliament for Ilford North, was his first Deputy Leader.
At the May 2018 borough elections, Athwal led the Labour Party to another victory, securing 51 of the 63 seats. This left the Conservative opposition with 12 councillors and the Liberal Democrats with none.[14]
In 2019, Athwal was elected executive member for Crime and Public Protection of London Councils, the local government association that represents London's 32 Borough Councils.[15][16]
Shortly before the 2019 general election, Athwal stood to be selected to be the Labour parliamentary candidate for his home constituency of Ilford South, with the incumbent Labour MP Mike Gapes having defected to Change UK.[17] Athwal was suspended from the party on the evening before members were due to vote, on the basis of serious allegations of sexual harassment.[18] Athwal denied the allegations and called for due process.[19][20] Sam Tarry, Athwal's rival in the contest, was subsequently selected in a vote a few weeks later.[21][22][20] The timing of Athwal's suspension on the evening before the vote, was publicly questioned by neighbouring MP, Wes Streeting, since Tarry had close links to Jeremy Corbyn.[20][23] The leader of the Conservative opposition on Redbridge Council urged Athwal to stand down as leader until the matter of his disputed suspension from the Labour Party was resolved.[19] Redbridge Labour Group responded with a statement that "While this process runs its course, Jas Athwal will continue as Leader of Redbridge Council with our full support".[24]
On 15 September 2020, Athwal was cleared of wrongdoing by the Labour Party, and his suspension was lifted. Athwal called for an independent probe into the way that he was suspended on the eve of the selection vote.[25][26]
On 10 October 2022, Athwal was selected as the Labour prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) for the Ilford South constituency at the 2024 election, defeating the incumbent Sam Tarry, by 499 votes to 361.[27] In April 2024 Tarry submitted a complaint about the vote saying discrepancies in the Labour membership list suggested tampering.[28]
Athwal was elected as MP for Ilford South on 4 July 2024 with 40.2% of all votes, and a majority of 6,894.[29] He was succeeded as Leader of Redbridge London Borough Council by fellow councillor Kam Rai.
Following the 2014 local elections, Athwal made council housing a key part of his administration's programme, having built the first new council houses in Redbridge in 10 years.[30] He has a target to build 1000 new affordable homes in an effort to end homelessness in Redbridge.[31] Athwal also actively supported the Dubs amendment for unaccompanied children in Calais and in 2016, visited the Calais "jungle" refugee camp.[32]
Athwal's housing strategy has caused controversy locally. In 2019 a petition was signed by over 3000 residents, in opposition to the Labour administration's plan to build temporary accommodation on the sites of two green spaces in Hainault, in the north of the borough.[33][34] The plans were introduced in 2018 as a response to Redbridge Council's statutory duty to house 2,300 homeless households, a national reduction in local authority funding, and a consensus that the available hostel accommodation was unsuitable for families.[35] Plans for both sites included preserving and developing the play areas and remaining green space.[36] In response to alleged incidents of abusive language, Athwal blocked some residents on social media. Defending Athwal's decision to block some local residents on social media, the Deputy Leader of Redbridge Council invited blocked residents to contact Councillors through existing official channels.[37]
As a private individual, Athwal is the largest landlord in the House of Commons, owning 15 rental flats.[38][39] He has described himself as a "renter's champion", and says he will not rent to tenants in receipt of housing benefit "to avoid conflicts of interest with his role as the local council leader."[40][41][38]
Athwal has been described as a slum landlord[42][43][44][45] after the BBC reported in August 2024 that he "rents out flats with black mould and ant infestations". According to the BBC almost half of his tenants in one block (of seven flats) reported they had to frequently remove mould from their bathroom ceilings. Another resident told the BBC they had been threatened with eviction if they complained about problems.[41] The BBC report also revealed other problems with some of Athwal's rental flats including non-compliance with the required selective property licence (introduced by Athwal himself), dirty communal areas with lights not working, fire alarms hanging loose from the ceiling and slow or no response to complaints.[41]
Prime Minister and Labour leader Keir Starmer said the state of the properties was "unacceptable" and that Athwal should put it right quickly, but rejected calls to remove the party whip from him. Athwal dismissed the managing agent for the properties, saying he was furious for not having been made aware of the problems. Athwal instigated a survey of tenants to discover the problems to be remedied, and said he would reimburse tenants for their out-of-pocket costs.[46] Housing minister Matthew Pennycook criticised Athwal the following week when he introduced the new Renters (Reform) Bill, saying relying on a letting agent was not sufficient and "Landlords have a responsibility to ensure their properties are well maintained and well managed".[47]
On 27 October 2024, it was revealed that Athwal was the landlord of an unsafe private care home own by Heartwood Care. The Londoner reported that children from the home, which is run by Athwal's friend Daljit Johal, had gone missing and been left at risk of criminal exploitation.[48] Reacting to the news, the Conservative Party called for an investigation, with a spokesperson saying: "These are serious allegations, and it would only be right for an investigation to be launched. Mr. Athwal has already been found to be renting out substandard properties, despite feigning interest in the rights of renters. He must come clean and address these allegations head on."[48] Heartwood Care later issued a statement denying the allegations.[49]
Athwal is a Sikh. He lives in Ilford, is married and has four children.[50] Athwal is an avid supporter of local football club Woodford Town FC, who in 2020 named the stand at their new ground in Woodford Bridge, the 'Jas Athwal Stand' in recognition of Athwal's contribution to bringing it back home to Redbridge.[51][52]
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