Councillor Alex Sanderson has been elected as Hammersmith & Fulham’s new Deputy Leader.
She takes on the leadership role alongside several other changes to the borough’s Cabinet after Cllr Ben Coleman, who had been Deputy Leader since 2022, stepped down following his election to Parliament earlier this month.
Cllr Bora Kwon has taken on the Health and Adult Social Care brief and Cllr Zarar Qayyum has stepped up to the Enterprise and Skills role.
Talking of the changes, Cllr Alex Sanderson said:
Our loss is Chelsea and Fulham’s gain, Ben will be a great MP. I am honoured to have been chosen to replace him. Hammersmith & Fulham is an amazing borough. I will fight for our residents and local businesses and work to make the borough an even better place to live and work.”
Cllr Sanderson has been the borough’s Cabinet Member for Children and Education since 2022, prior to that she chaired the policy and scrutiny committee covering that area. She was first elected to Hammersmith & Fulham in 2018.
“Alex Sanderson is a remarkable public servant,” said Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham. “In May, OFSTED graded our children’s services as “Outstanding” and she established family hubs across the borough to support young parents and give children the best possible start in life and she is taking radical measures to protect young people from crime and keep our children safe. Alex is a smart and collegiate leader who really cares about making our residents’ lives better. She will be excellent for our borough in this position.”
Cllr Bora Kwon takes up the Adult Social Care and Health portfolio following the administration’s successful campaign to save Charing Cross Hospital from demolition and after it became the only council in England not to charge residents for social care.
Cllr Bora Kwon said: “I am absolutely focussed on rising to the challenges of fixing our broken and beloved NHS while making sure our residents get the best social care in the country. I plan to build on the work of our independent Disabled People’s Commission and see my role as a champion for independent living.”
Cllr Zarar Qayyum has been appointed as the new Cabinet Member for Enterprise and Skills to support businesses, help residents have the skills they need to access the best local jobs and find new ways to encourage thriving local high streets.
Cllr Qayyam said: “It benefits all of us to have a strong, enterprising local economy but too many of Britain’s businesses have been through a tough time. My message to all our local businesses is that I am on your side and will work with you to help you thrive.”
Meanwhile, Cllr Helen Rowbottom was appointed to be the new H&F Industrial Strategy Ambassador to usher in the next era of the council’s role as an entrepreneurial municipality supporting all the components – across infrastructure, planning, partnerships – to meet its potential as a globally revered, thriving life sciences ecosystem, transforming the lives of local people and providing them with opportunity.
Cllr Stephen Cowan said: “I am grateful to have such an extraordinarily strong team who are all focused on making positive change for H&F’s residents and businesses."
Here is the full list of Cabinet Members and their roles:
- Stephen Cowan – Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council
- Alex Sanderson – Deputy Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council*
- Cabinet Member for the Economy – Andrew Jones
- Cabinet Member for Public Realm – Sharon Holder
- Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness – Frances Umeh
- Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform – Rowan Ree
- Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion and Community Safety – Rebecca Harvey
- Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Ecology – Wesley Harcourt
- Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health – Bora Kwon
- Cabinet Member for Enterprise and Skills – Zarar Qayyum.
*The Deputy Leader will also have responsibilities for Children and Education.
