Cllr Lesley Pavitt elected as Speaker of the Council

Pic: Tower Hamlets Labour Party

From left: outgoing Speaker of the Council, Cllr Rajib Ahmed, newly elected Speaker of the Council, Cllr Lesley Pavitt, Cllr Abdal Ullah, Cllr Rachael Saunders and Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London for Tower Hamlets, Commander John Ludgate
Pic: Tower Hamlets Labour Party

Labour Cllr Lesley Pavitt of Bethnal Green South, was elected as the borough’ ceremonial Speaker of the Council and First Citizen at Tower Hamlets Council’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday night May 22.

Cllr Pavitt took over the role from Cllr Rajib Ahmed.

In his leaving speech Cllr Ahmed revealed he has raised over £22,000 for local the charities Toynbee Hall’s Deesha project, THESIS Trust and SOUL.

Cllr Lesley Pavitt spoke about her new position after the ceremony: “It is a great honour to be elected Speaker and I am looking forward to recognising the great work of unsung legions of volunteers in Tower Hamlets.”

The Speaker’s function is to chair council meetings, promote and support the borough through a variety of civic engagements.

Cllr Pavitt will  also represent The Queen as First Citizen of the Borough, hosting events and welcoming visitors such as the Royals and the captains of all ships visiting the local docks.

As an ambassador for the borough, Cllr Pavitt’s main duty is to raise the profile of the Council and forge links with the private, public and voluntary sectors.

The Speaker is also committed to working with other councillors to ensure that the council is forward-looking and modern while respecting the civic history of Tower Hamlets.

Cllr Pavitt is involved in Tower Hamlets Sports Council and the London Youth Games.

She spoke of her involvement with the elderly residents in the borough: “I am also looking forward to meeting many of our older residents, although we are a ‘young borough’ there are 25,000 elderly residents many living on their own and who also contribute to what makes Tower Hamlets a great place to live.”

Labour party member, Cllr M.A. Mukit MBE of Bethnal Green and Bow, was elected as the new Deputy Speaker at the meeting as were the.Chairpersons of Councils for various committees. They were as followed:

Overview and Scrutiny Committee — Cllr Motin Uz-Zaman
Human Resources Committee — Cllr Carlo Gibbs
General Purposes Committee — Cllr Shiria Khatun
Licensing Committee — Cllr Carli Harper-Penman
Development and Strategic Development Committee — Cllr Helal Abbas
Appeals Committee — Cllr Bill Turner
Pensions Committee — Cllr Zenith Rahman
Audit Committee — Cllr Mizanur Chaudhury

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