Former Hackney councillor becomes chair of London Assembly for third time

Third time: Andrew Boff. Photograph: London Assembly

The new chair of the London Assembly is a former Hackney councillor who has vowed to stringently hold Sir Sadiq Khan to account “on issues that matter most to Londoners”.

Conservative Assembly Member Andrew Boff, who has twice presided over all-member proceedings in the City Hall chamber, was elected to another one-year term in the role last week.

It came as part of the annual reshuffle of committee leads.

Boff was leader of Hillingdon Council before moving to Hackney in 1993. He became a councillor for Queensbridge ward, having won a byelection by 101 votes on 20 January 2005.

He gained 696 votes, ahead of Labour’s Patrick Vernon on 595, resulting in a swing of 19.5 per cent from Labour to Conservative.

Boff then lost his seat in the local elections that took place the following year – to the same Patrick Vernon.

Boff garnered 913 votes but was surpassed by Vernon with 1,119.

He came second in both the 2002 and 2006 Hackney Mayoral elections. He was first elected as a London Assembly member in 2008.

Tory rebel takes the helm

Outgoing Assembly chair Lord Len Duvall, a Labour Assembly Member, nominated Boff, saying he “thinks out of the box and challenges his own group to think about issues raised in this chamber”.

City Hall Conservatives group leader Susan Hall seconded the motion, saying the Assembly was “very lucky” to have Boff, despite his occasional rebellion against his own party.

Boff was famously marched out of the Conservative party conference in 2023 after heckling then home secretary Suella Braverman.

The new London Assembly chair told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “My heartfelt thanks go to Lord Duvall of Woolwich OBE AM for chairing during the very special 25th anniversary year.

“I am keen to continue his great work in highlighting the work of our incredible young people across the capital through our work with the London Youth Assembly.

“Our cross-party work on the Assembly has a real impact on the everyday lives of Londoners, and I am honoured that the Assembly has chosen me to be chair once again.“In the year ahead, the London Assembly will continue to hold the mayor to account on issues that matter most to Londoners.”

The London Assembly chair has significant procedural power over all-Assembly sessions, including the monthly Mayor’s Question Time, where they often call out individual members for inappropriate questioning or the Mayor himself for avoiding them.

Musical chairs

Assembly Members also elected chairs of the various cross-party investigative committees, which hold regular sessions throughout the year in City Hall.

These chairs usually have an influence in deciding what each committee spends its time investigating, adding some weight to the position.

While the Assembly does not have any decision-making powers, committees are able to scrutinise high-profile figures – including deputy mayors, top figures from the Met Police, Transport for London (TfL) and the London Fire Brigade, and MPs – before producing a series of recommendations for the Mayor.

Hall, who was elected chair of the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee, told the LDRS: “Ensuring Londoners are kept safe is an absolute priority for us all, and I am delighted to once again be chairing the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee.

“We play a vital role in scrutinising the work of the Mayor, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Met Police on what is being done to make London a safe place to live, work and visit. I look forward to working with cross-party colleagues on the policing issues facing our city.”

Four of the five parties represented on the Assembly managed to obtain at least one group member as a committee chair.

Liberal Democrat member Gareth Roberts, the new chair of the Environment Committee, said: “From tackling persistent problems like fly-tipping to improving access to green spaces, our work will focus on how we can enhance quality of life in every part of the capital.

“By bringing together a wide range of perspectives, we’ll be looking closely at what more can be done to protect London’s environment and make the city cleaner, greener and healthier for everyone.”

The Green party’s Caroline Russell, who will oversee the Transport Committee, told the LDRS that probing self-driving vehicles on London’s streets are top of her agenda.

Labour’s Bassam Mahfouz, who took charge of the Economy, Culture and Skills Committee, said his committee will have a “particular emphasis on jobs, skills and supporting young people as they take their first steps into the world of work”.

Reform UK reject chair opportunity

With former Conservative defector Keith Prince doubling the party’s representation on the London Assembly last year, the Reform UK group were technically entitled to seek the chairship or deputy chairship of any London Assembly Committee.

But they rejected the chance, suggesting both Prince and his colleague Alex Wilson would prefer to hold the Mayor of London to account in other ways.

A Reform UK City Hall spokesman told the LDRS: “The Reform UK Group does not hold any chairmanships or deputy chairmanships on London Assembly committees, which are investigatory and wield no meaningful power to affect the lives of Londoners.

“As such, it was agreed that allocation and rotation of chairmanships would not be revisited until after the 2028 Assembly Elections. This allows Alex Wilson and Keith Prince to focus solely on the task in front of them – holding Sadiq Khan to account on his myriad of failures in office.”