Sarah Hayward is a British Labour Party politician who was Leader of the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former Metropolitan boroughs of the Cou ...

from 2012 to 2017. She successfully challenged

Nasim Ali Nasim "Nash" Ali (; born 7 February 1969) is a British Labour Party politician, councillor for Regent's Park, former Cabinet Member for Young People in Camden Council and former Mayor of Camden. In May 2003, at the age of 34, after being elec ...

for leadership of the Labour group in 2012.

Early life and career

Hayward grew up in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

in a single-parent family, in which her mother worked in low paid jobs and she worked as a 12-year-old to supplement her mother's earnings. She describes this as a defining moment attracting her to socialism. She graduated from the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

with a degree in law and politics. She then moved to London and worked at

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

for two years, before joining a publishing company. She joined the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

before resigning in protest over the

Invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...

. Hayward says she was drawn to Camden by a "love of grungy pubs and even grungier music".

Political career

Before being elected, she worked for the

London Labour Party London Labour is the devolved, regional part of the Labour Party in Greater London. It is the largest political party in London, currently holding a majority of the executive mayoralties, a majority of local councils, council seats and parli ...

and the

Fawcett Society The Fawcett Society is a membership charity in the United Kingdom which campaigns for women's rights. The organisation dates back to 1866, when Millicent Garrett Fawcett dedicated her life to the peaceful campaign for women's suffrage. From 190 ...

. She has represented the King's Cross ward since 2010 and entered Cabinet as Member for Communities, Regeneration and Equalities. She currently serves as a member of the Health and Wellbeing Board and a number of sub-committees. In 2013 she strongly defended the council against a report by the Taxpayers Alliance on Channel 5 News. In 2014, she sought to be selected as Labour candidate to replace retiring incumbent

Frank Dobson Frank Gordon Dobson (15 March 1940 – 11 November 2019) was a British Labour Party politician. As Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St. Pancras from 1979 to 2015, he served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health from 1997 ...

; however,

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

was selected instead. She has written a number of articles for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Hayward supported

Liz Kendall Elizabeth Louise Kendall (born 11 June 1971) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester West sinc ...

during the 2015 Labour Party leadership election despite the

Holborn and St Pancras Holborn and St Pancras () is a parliamentary constituency in Greater London that was created in 1983. It has been represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister sinc ...

Labour Party endorsing

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

. Corbyn was the eventual winner, with Kendall coming last with less than 5% of the vote. In 2016, she saw off an unsuccessful leadership challenge by cabinet colleague Sally Gimson. Hayward announced she was standing down from the leadership of Camden Council in April 2017 and did not stand for re-election as a councillor at the May 2018 council elections. She was succeeded as leader of Camden Council by

Georgia Gould Georgia Gould (born January 5, 1980) is an American professional mountain bike and cyclocross competitor, and Olympian (2008, 2012). She has earned five career national championships – four in cross-country mountain bike in 2006, 2010, 2011 ...

, the daughter of the late Lord Gould.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayward, Sarah Living people British socialist feminists People from Kentish Town Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in the London Borough of Camden Year of birth missing (living people) Leaders of local authorities of England Women councillors in England