James Tacuma Small-Edwards is a British politician serving as Member of the

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds supermajority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject t ...

for West Central since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has served as a Member of

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. Full council meetings ...

since 2022. He is a former rugby player and the son of

Shaun Edwards Shaun Edwards, OBE (born 17 October 1966) is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A or , Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 win ...

, and the soul singer

Heather Small Heather Marguerita Small (born 20 January 1965) is an English soul music, soul singer and lead vocalist of the band M People. Her subsequent debut solo studio album, ''Proud (Heather Small album), Proud'', was released in 2000. Her second and ...

. Small-Edwards studied politics at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and earned a

Master of Public Policy The Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a graduate-level professional degree. It provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to pu ...

(MPP) from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 2022, he won a seat representing

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

for the Labour Party. He was appointed Deputy Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development following his election. In 2024, he became the representative for West Central after winning in the

2024 London Assembly election The 2024 election to the London Assembly was held on 2 May concurrently with the 2024 London mayoral election, London mayoral election and 2024 United Kingdom local elections, local elections across England and Wales. Background In the 2021 Lon ...

, defeating the Conservative Party incumbent,

Tony Devenish Anthony Stuart Devenish (born 31 March 1968) is a British politician who served as the member of the London Assembly for West Central between 2016 and 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he is also a councillor on Westminster City Council ...

. This makes him the first non-Conservative representative for West Central since the London Assembly was created in 2000.

References

External links

*
Profile
at the London Assembly {{DEFAULTSORT:Small-Edwards, James Living people Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Members of the London Assembly Labour Co-operative Members of the London Assembly Councillors in the City of Westminster 21st-century English politicians Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Black British politicians 20th-century births London AMs 2024–2028 UK councillors 2022–2026