Unmesh Desai is a British politician. A member of the Labour Party, he has represented City and East in 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 ...

since 2016. He served as a councillor on the

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham () is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by ...

from 1998 until 2018, representing East Ham Central from 2002 onwards. Desai has been an anti-racist activist since the 1970s, organising marches and demonstrations in response to a wave of racist murders, and helping to found the Newham Youth Movement to confront the rise in racial violence and injustice.

Background

Desai has resided in East London for more than 30 years. He previously trained and worked as a solicitor. He is a trustee of the West Ham United Foundation, President of the Newham Cricket Club and a Vice-President of the East London Rugby Club. Desai acted as election agent for Stephen Timms, the Labour MP for

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Essex, East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a ...

. He has written 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 ...

'' on the Prevent strategy. Desai has also been the Chair of the Newham

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

for several years. Desai has been an anti racist activist for decades having help found the Newham Monitoring project to challenge the spate of racist murders taking place in the borough. John Walker writes: ''A young Asian community activist played a significant role in raising black and Asian consciousness at the time - and in organising resistance to the prevailing racist orthodoxies.'' ''It was the present Newham Greater London Assembly'' ''Member, Unmesh Desai, of the Newham Monitoring Project.''

Career

Desai was first elected to the Newham London Borough Council in 1998, representing St Stephens ward. He was subsequently elected as a councillor for East Ham Central in 2002 following a boundary change. He continued being a councillor for East Ham Central until 2018 when he stood down to focus on his London Assembly work. During his time on Newham Council he served as Cabinet Member for Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour. In May 2016, Desai was elected to the

succeeding John Biggs as the member for City and East, winning nearly 58% of the vote. He was subsequently reselected as Labour candidate for the constituency for the 2020 London Assembly election. Desai is Labour's London Assembly spokesperson on Policing and Crime and sits on the Budget and Performance Committee, Police and Crime Committee and Transport Committees. During his time on the Assembly, he has campaigned on issues including police pay and conditions,

anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

, and hate crime at football grounds. In 2022, Desai successfully called for a Metropolitan Police investigation into breaches of Covid regulations at Downing Street under the

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

administration. He has highlighted the phenomenon of " cuckooing", where criminals take control of a vulnerable person's home and use it for organised crime, writing a report "Protecting the Vulnerable: Addressing 'Cuckooing' in London" which showed there were 316 cases of cuckooing in 2022. The report set out recommendations to tackle the offense. Desai has continued this campaign, calling for cuckooing to be made a specific offence, and calling on the Metropolitan Police to enact his recommendations. He has highlighted the impacts of police underfunding, focusing on screened out crime, Blue Badge theft and resources needed to police protests in London. He has used his position to ensure that the Metropolitan Police build trust and confidence in their work following the Casey Review, monitoring the number of officers dismissed for misconduct, the number of hearings undertaken and new Policing Board that oversees standards in the Met. He has also called for greater action from police on violence against women, highlighting high rates of drink spiking in London and poor prosecution rates for Female Genital Mutilation.

Arrest and suspension

On 7 January 2025, Desai was administratively suspended by the Labour Party following a police investigation. Following an investigation which lasted some weeks, the police dismissed all charges against him and he was reinstated in the party.

References

External links

Profile
at the London Assembly {{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Unmesh Living people Labour Members of the London Assembly Labour Co-operative Members of the London Assembly Councillors in the London Borough of Newham Year of birth missing (living people) British people of Indian descent UK councillors 1998–2002 UK councillors 2002–2006 UK councillors 2006–2010 UK councillors 2010–2014 UK councillors 2014–2018 London AMs 2016–2021 London AMs 2021–2024 London AMs 2024–2028