A Labour councillor considered an “outrider” for Sadiq Khan’s green policies has been appointed as London deputy mayor for the environment and energy.
Mete Coban, Hackney council’s cabinet member for the environment and transport, will succeed Shirley Rodrigues, who left City Hall in May after eight years working on clean air policies including the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez).
He will receive a salary of £147,769. He is due to start work next Thursday.
He is currently chief executive of the non-partisan campaign group My Life My Say, which seeks to encourage young people to vote.
Mr Coban was part of the team of volunteers who helped Mr Khan unexpectedly become Labour’s mayoral candidate in 2016 – at a time Tessa Jowell was considered the favourite.
Mr Khan won the subsequent election, defeating Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith, and is now in his third term as mayor.
In his political memoir Breathe, Mr Khan credits Mr Coban with devising the #YesWeKhan slogan that helped him to victory – building on a similar slogan used by Barack Obama on his way to become US president.
Recently Mr Coban was named in reports as being under consideration to replace Diane Abbott as the Labour party’s parliamentary candidate in Hackney North. However, Ms Abbott regained the party whip and was allowed to stand in the 2024 General Election, and retained her seat.
In this year’s London mayoral campaign, he deputised for Mr Khan at a couple of hustings. On one occasion, Tory rivals sought to capitalise on a slip of the tongue when he said Mr Khan had only ruled out pay-per-mile road charging “for now”.
I think this was more of a slip of the tongue or “mis-speak” from @metecoban92 (which he quickly corrected) rather than a revelation that @SadiqKhan is plotting to introduce pay-per-mile road charging https://t.co/4QsDiPfbMV
— Ross Lydall (@RossLydall) April 17, 2024
Mr Khan said: “I am delighted that Mete Coban has agreed to become our new deputy mayor for environment and energy. I look forward to working with him as we continue to take world-leading action to tackle the climate crisis, clean up our air and rivers and grow the green economy.
“Mete has delivered a vast range of environmental improvements in Hackney and I am pleased to welcome him to City Hall as we create a fairer, cleaner, and greener city for everyone."
Mr Coban has previously said that, as the son of a Cypriot minicab driver, he has a similar background to Mr Khan, whose late father was a London bus driver.
He said: “I'm delighted to have been asked by Sadiq Khan to take up the role of deputy mayor for environment and energy. The mayor has introduced world-leading policies on climate action and I am hugely excited to bring my experience to this city-wide effort.”
As a Hackney councillor, Mr Coban introduced a daytime ban on cars and lorries on part of Stoke Newington Church Street to make it more attractive to pedestrians and cyclists.
He was also instrumental in plans to expand low traffic neighbourhoods across 75 per cent of residential streets in Hackney, and has championed the spread of “school streets”.
But he has been named in controversy surrounding the council’s decision to sign an exclusive deal with Lime that only pemitted its dockless e-bikes – and not those of rival operators – to be ridden in Hackney. That contract is due to be reviewed this summer.
Lime offered free rides to Londoners to get them to polling stations on election day, under a tie-in with My Life My Say.
Asked about Mr Coban’s dealings with Lime, a spokesperson for the Mayor said: "Mete Coban has been clear that there was no conflict of interest in this case and his relationship with Lime was declared with Hackney council.
“Lime’s contract with Hackney began in 2022 - two years before any formal partnership with My Life My Say. Hackney council has also confirmed that Mete had no role in the awarding of the contract."
Ms Rodrigues was caught in controversy over the Ulez expansion when she was accused of seeking to “quash dissent” by contacting academics on three occasions after studies and articles were published questioning the benefits of the Ulez and its precursor, the low emission zone (Lez).
This included requests to Professor Frank Kelly of Imperial College, asking him to counter negative research from a separate group of Imperial academics, who suggested the central London Ulez had only a relatively small effect on air pollution at its launch.
According to City Hall, Mr Coban has been responsible for Hackney council delivering 4,000 solar panels on council estates, 3,000 electric vehicle charging points, 2,500 street trees and 675 cycle hangars.
In addition, he has established a community energy fund, delivered the council’s first-ever green bond to raise money for local climate projects and launched the first cargo bike-sharing scheme of its kind in the UK.
At mayor’s question time on Thursday, Mr Khan said he wanted to make clear “that the role of deputy mayor for the environment has not been suspended”, after lying vacant for two months following the decision of Ms Rodrigues to quit in May.
Mr Khan later added for clarification that Ms Rodrigues had not been “suspended” from the role but had chosen to “retire”.
He described her as an “exceptional deputy mayor for London”, and thanked her for “eight years of hard work and achievement for our city”.
Facing questions about the time taken to replace Ms Rodrigues, he said it had been important to “taking the time to ensure we get the best candidate for the role”, adding that he didn’t want to be seen to “measure up the curtains” prior to securing a third term.
