Christopher Wellbelove, Mayor of Lambeth (part 1)

This week Love Clapham met with Christopher Wellbelove, recently elected as the Mayor of Lambeth and councillor for the Clapham Town Ward since 2006. It was an enlightening and hugely enjoyable discussion about local projects, Twittering for Lambeth and Eurovision – finger on the pulse? More than you’d imagine.

It may have been the end of the day for most people, but the day was only beginning for the Mayor of Lambeth, Christopher Wellbelove, when I met him on Monday at the Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton. That’s not to say he’d had the day off, by day he still has to perform his duties as a councillor for the Clapham Town Ward. He’s an incredibly busy man, yet he managed to squeeze in the below interview to help explain his role in more detail.

Councils, elections, politics – ignore all of that. If there’s one thing I’ve gained from meeting Christopher Wellbelove, it’s not to allow terminology like “politics” from preventing your involvement in the local area and community. Whether it’s his instantly welcoming personality, energy or love of using the internet to communicate, there’s something refreshing and catching about Christopher Wellbelove’s enthusiasm for local community and yes, his love of Clapham.

For people who may not know much about politics or councils, can you explain your role as Major of Lambeth?

 

Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton

I actually have two roles, primarily I’m a Clapham Town councillor, for which I was elected in 2006. I was elected as deputy Major last year, who stands in for the mayor, and then this year I have become Mayor of Lambeth, primarily a civic role. People get very confused because you have the Mayor of London who has administrative power in a similar way to royalty.

As a local Mayor you have the ultimate signature but you do whatever the administration tells you they want to do. You actually sign over most of your power to the administration. One of the primary things is chairing the full local council, which is quite daunting, and there are eight or nine full council meetings a year.

In Lambeth we rotate the chair between the political parties because in my year as Mayor I’m not allowed to take political positions on things as I need to be able to chair the meeting totally non-partisan. Other things I’ll do include going to openings of events. Any organisation can contact me the through the website if they have an event or certificate, for example later today I’m presenting certificates to people.

If royalty were to come to the borough it’s also my job to go along with the chief lieutenant and greet the member of the royal family, or if there are any dignitaries that come from other countries or other cities it would be my job to meet them. 

Traditionally, every London borough has a Mayor, and with quite a few events in the other boroughs it’s a good way of reaching out and sharing experiences while also being a promoter of Lambeth.

How did you first become involved in politics leading to your role as Mayor?

I’ve always been an arm chair politician I guess. I don’t really like the word politician, but I’ve always been a bit of a campaigner and my friends are thankful that I got elected because it’s quietened me down quite a lot!

I lived on Heather Close estate by Wandsworth Road and I was on their tenants and residents association. I got it into my head “why do I need to go through a councillor to get things fixed, why don’t I try to get elected?” I only joined the Labour party in 2004 and then decided to stand – you first need your Ward’s Labour party members to select you as a candidate – and I was elected in 2006. That was quite interesting because while everywhere else the votes were swinging conservative, Clapham Town went from being Conservative to all Labour.

Tim Sargeant, Mayor of Lambeth 2003 - 2004

Tim Sargeant, who sadly died, I met before becoming a councillor and I was very cynical because he was talking about how wonderful it was to be Mayor and I was thinking, “what’s the point? You can’t vote on things, you can’t campaign for your party during that year,” and it was his enthusiasm for the role that made me think “hang on, that’s something that I could do”.

I used to live across the road in Brixton and I never knew there was a Mayor of Lambeth. I began to feel that there were lots of people like me, that unless you’re involved with the council, you’d have absolutely no idea. Because I know about technology, I thought what a brilliant opportunity to one become Mayor and two promote the job of the Major and all of the organisations that I visit through the internet.

It seems that Christopher Wellbelove’s time on his local estate’s resident association has served him well…

 

One of Clapham's estates

Since becoming a councillor my main focus has been on housing issues, that’s one of the things that is helped by me living on an estate – I’ve moved from Heather Close and now live on Notre Dame estate – in the heart of Clapham. It’s good to have someone that lives on an estate in the council so that when people say things about estates I can actually speak about them.

I sit on a couple of boards and I remember being on one board that was doing some research and they were saying that they weren’t going to go onto the estates because they wouldn’t be safe. I was able to stand up and say “look, that’s absolutely ridiculous, some streets are less safe than an estate.” It’s about beating that prejudice.

Are you enjoying it so far?

It’s funny, the last Mayor was very patient with me because I was almost pulling the chains off of her because I couldn’t wait to start! I joked that after my year I’d be locking myself in the Mayor’s parlour.

It’s great, it’s tiring. I work fulltime and then I have this too. For instance I have meetings now, then there are presentations and then I go home to catch-up on work. Since I’ve been Major I’ve had a mouth infection a really bad back, both times on quite heavy pain killers and in the car I’d be thinking, I’m actually really exhausted. Then I’d get out the car and smile because people look forward to you coming so you have to forget your issues and just get on with it. But seriously, I absolutely adore it!

What’s at the top of your in tray?

One of the lucky things about it being a non-partisan role is that if anything does come through to me, my job is to pass it on to a cabinet member. It really is important for me during the year that I do keep away from issues that could be politically sensitive. Then, when I do go out to events, it doesn’t matter what party you are I am still your representative.

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