Enfield Council has elected a new leader, mayor and cabinet following this month’s local government elections.
Michael Yiakoumi of Parikiaki Newspaper had the opportunity to interview the 29 year old new leader of Enfield Council 29 year old Councillor Nesil Caliskan she is the youngest council leader in London and second youngest in the UK.
You can listen to the full interview below.
She is the borough’s first female leader following her election this week.
Nesil Caliskan, represents the Jubilee ward, and won a surprise victory at Enfield Labour’s annual general meeting on Monday (May 14), narrowly beating long-serving leader Doug Taylor by 24 votes to 22.
She was born in Chase Farm Hospital and still lives in Enfield with her family and attended Palmers Green Girls High School then Reading University then to the London School of Economics (LSE) where she was involved with the National Union of Students.
Worked in healthcare and Local Government and lastly for the NHS.
Joined the Labour party while at School her Mother is also a councillor with Enfield Council. Nesil has been a Councillor for three years.
Her aims within the council is to improve crime, poverty and housing.
The new leader of Enfield Council, Cllr Nesil Caliskan, has identified tackling inequality, housing, crime and disorder and child poverty as her key priorities for the next four years.
Cllr Caliskan, works for NHS England in the National Equality and Health Inequality Team
She said: “I look forward to leading the cabinet to drive my commitment in ensuring the Council delivers excellent services for the people of Enfield.
“I want to build a borough where everyone has the opportunity to reach their potential regardless of their background, feels safe and lives in a good quality home.
“We face great challenges as a local authority in the next four years.
“We will seek new ways to accelerate our affordable housing provision to create vibrant new communities, maintain and increase the quality of services and care to our vulnerable residents, support our young people and prepare them for a great future, improve the environment and promote good health.
“I became a politician because I believe in fairness and equality and reducing inequality will be at the heart of everything we do. I believe that every person in our borough should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
“I will be working with officers, from every department of the Council, to tackle inequality in our borough and ensure we get the right support to those residents who need it the most.”
Nesil also spoke about her Cypriot roots where her family is from Lefkara in Cyprus and that one of her first events that she will be attending will be the Cypriot Wine Festival at Lee Valley Centre in Enfield.
At a meeting of the Full Council on Wednesday 23 May Cllr Nesil Caliskan was elected as the new leader of Enfield Council, the first female Leader of the Council. The Deputy Leader and Cabinet were also appointed.
Cllr Saray Karakus was elected as the mayor.
The new Cabinet is:
Deputy Leader: Cllr Daniel Anderson
Children’s Services: Cllr Achilleas Georgiou
Finance & Procurement: Cllr Mary Maguire
Housing: Cllr Dino Lemonides
Property and Assets: Cllr Ahmet Oykener
Environment: Cllr Guney Dogan
Public Health: Cllr Yasemin Brett
Health & Social Care: Cllr Alev Cazimoglu
Community Safety & Cohesion: Cllr Nneka Keazor
