Lydia Emelda Simmons is a Labour Party local politician in

Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

who was active between 1979 and 2007. She has the distinction of being the first black person, as well as specifically the first Afro-Caribbean woman, to become a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

in England. By the end of her tenure as Councillor on

Slough Borough Council Slough Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Slough in Berkshire, England. Slough has had an elected council since 1863, which has been reformed several times. Since 1998 the council has been a unitary authority, being a di ...

(1979 - 1994 and 1999 - 2007), she was the longest-serving member of the council. She was born in

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

, a small

volcanic island Geologically, a volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term high island can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...

in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Offices

1979 - 1994

* Councillor on Slough Borough Council (1979 - 1994) * Deputy Mayor of Slough (1983 - 1984) * Mayor of Slough (1984 - 1985) * Chair of the council committee responsible for housing (1985 - 1994)

1999 - 2007

* Councillor on Slough Borough Council (1999 - 2007) * Cabinet commissioner (1999 - 2004), Simmons became shadow commissioner for Housing, after Labour went into opposition in 2004. ** Social Exclusion (1999 - 2002) ** Neighbourhood Services (2002 - 2004) ** Shadow Commissioner for Housing (2004), after Labour went into opposition. * Member of the Board of People 1st Slough (2006), which ran

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

in Slough as an

arms length management organisation In the United Kingdom, an arms-length management organisation (ALMO) is a not-for-profit company that provides housing services on behalf of a local authority. Usually, an ALMO is set up by the authority to manage and improve all or part of its ho ...

(ALMO).

Disputed 2007 election

At the

2007 Slough Council election Elections to the Borough Council in Borough of Slough, Slough, England, were held on 3 May 2007. One third of the council was up for election. This was the 122nd Slough general local authority election (including both whole Council elections and ...

, Simmons was the Labour candidate in Central Ward. She was unexpectedly defeated by the Conservative candidate, Eshaq Khan, in circumstances which led to an election petition being presented challenging the result. An election commissioner, on 18 March 2008, ruled the election void because of registration and postal vote fraud; Khan was expelled from the Conservative Party. Simmons did not contest the by-election caused by the court decision. It was only when Labour party activists, surprised by the Conservative victory in an election otherwise a success for Labour, pressed for an investigation that the fraud was discovered, the hearing was told.

References

External links