Sadiq Khan has revealed the leader of Islington Council, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, as his new deputy mayor for policing and crime.
News of the appointment comes after Sophie Linden, who has held the £141,386 role since 2016, announced her resignation earlier this week.
Ms Comer-Schwartz will assume the role after Ms Linden leaves to become an advisor to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Friday, October 18. The new deputy’s appointment will however be subject to a confirmation hearing by the London Assembly’s police and crime committee.
The job involves leading the work of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, which sets the budget and direction of the Metropolitan Police.
The new deputy has served as a Labour councillor since 2013, and became council leader in 2021. Her predecessor as leader, Richard Watts, left in order to become Mr Khan’s deputy chief of staff - a role he still holds.
Ms Comer-Schwartz’s hiring means she is set to become the latest of several Labour councillors to have been selected by Mr Khan for senior roles at City Hall.
Ms Linden, for example, was previously a Hackney councillor, as was Mete Coban, the mayor’s new deputy mayor for the environment and energy - while his planning deputy, Jules Pipe, was mayor of Hackney.
Mr Khan’s transport deputy Seb Dance was a Labour Member of the European Parliament prior to Brexit, and his previous deputy in that role was Labour MP Heidi Alexander.
The mayor said: “Nothing is more important to me than keeping Londoners safe.
“Kaya brings extensive experience to the role, working to make Londoners safer and improving trust and confidence in the police, which we know leads to reductions in violence and crime.”
Ms Comer-Schwartz said she was “thrilled” to have been proposed for the job.
“From dealing with the aftermath of the Finsbury Park terror attack to empowering communities and the police to stand together following the far-right riots this summer, I am proud to have championed justice, community cohesion and public safety throughout my career,” she said.
“I am excited about the prospect of bringing my skills, knowledge and experience to the role and driving the urgent reforms needed to the police to deliver a safer and more equal London.”
Opposition groups on the London Assembly were approached for comment.
Green assembly member Zoë Garbett said: “Between violence against women and girls, strip searching, live facial recognition deployments, and drug prosecutions, there’s so much work to be done in safely policing Londoners. I am eager to hit the ground running with the new deputy mayor.”
Conservative assembly member Susan Hall said the new deputy “joins the long line of Labour councillor appointees to City Hall, after Sophie Linden appears to have traded the role for a significantly less lucrative one advising the Ministry of Justice”.
She added: “The latest His Majesty's Inspectorate report was very concerning for the Met Police, and much needs to be done to address the issues raised. Someone needs to get to grips with this: if the mayor is going to be arms lengths away, the new deputy mayor for policing needs to be diligent in getting to work.”
