Richard Watts (born 1975), is a Labour Party politician. He is currently Deputy

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to the

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Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...

. He was previously Council Leader of

Islington London Borough Council Islington London Borough Council, also known as Islington Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Islington in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majo ...

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. He was elected to that role in October 2013. In the borough elections of May 2014 he led the Islington Labour Party to an increased majority on the council.

Early life

Watts attended Haywood Comprehensive School,

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. He graduated with a degree in politics from

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

and before this worked in the Pretty Polly tights factory in

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Career

Watts has lived in Islington since 1998. He represented the ultra-safe Tollington ward in the north of Islington from the

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until stepping down in 2021, during which time he led the council's Labour group. Before becoming a full-time member of Islington Council's Executive, Watts ran the Children's Food Campaign, a national campaign to improve children's diets. Previously he worked for a number of different campaigns and a consultancy organisation, which led to some work in the Balkans, including working in

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helping develop democratic political parties. Watts is concerned about the effects of

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on local government provision. Watts stated “unprecedented” funding pressure also demand for services addressing adult and children's social care and homelessness was “pushing councils to the limit. As a result less money is being spent on the other services that keep our communities running such as libraries, local roads, early intervention and local welfare support. Losing a further £1.3bn of central government funding at this time is going to tip many councils over the edge. Many local authorities will reach the point where they only have the funds to provide statutory responsibilities and it will be our local communities and economies that will suffer the consequences.”English councils brace for biggest government cuts since 2010 despite 'unprecedented' budget pressures
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Richard 1975 births Living people Politics of the London Borough of Islington Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in the London Borough of Islington Alumni of Collingwood College, Durham Leaders of local authorities of England