Cllr Lesley Jones MBE Dies

I am sorry to hear that Cllr Lesley Jones MBE died during the weekend.  I first met Lesley back in 1998 when she first stood as a councillor in Willesden Green, which she went on to represent for the next twenty years.  She had already led a remarkable life, which I got to know about during our conversations over the years.

She was originally brought up in Kentish Town where her father was a stone mason and I believe she attended art school when she was younger.  Unfortunately, her father's business went bust which meant she wasn't able to study for as long as she wished.  She married a writer when still very young and moved to what was then recently independent Nigeria.  She wrote a short memoir on the subject called Oyinbo.  She taught English there and had two of her children there.  I thought this sounded remarkably adventurous.  She came back to England and settled in South London, having more children, before moving to Brent.

She served in a number of roles on the Council including as one of my predecessors as Lead Member for the Environment, and was widely respected for her expertise and her honesty.  She was a great supporter of Trading Standards and a champion of the new Library at Willesden Green. 

This was merely one of many projects always occupying her.  As recently as March she was actively objecting to the proposed new block on Willesden High Road.  But she had a long history of numerous campaigns, including opposing the downgrading of Willesden Post Office, refurbishing the park on Villiers Road, a skateboard park in Roundwood Park, helping sponsor the Fabric of a Nation Exhibition, improving play space in Unity Close and many others.  She also took a strong interest in trying to shape planning policy with an emphasis always on trying to improve the lives of local residents.  I remember particularly her long running fight to improve houses of multiple occupation in Willesden. 

She was also unstinting in her casework, sometimes in excess.  One of the first pieces of casework I got involved in was to do with parked cars cluttering the bottom of Harlesden Road, which was an area shared between our wards of Willesden Green and Kensal Green.  I asked Lesley's help, expecting that she would just give me a telephone number of the right person to call, and then discovered that she had gone off and sorted the entire problem herself.  This hard work was appreciated by her constituents.  On another occasion I remember being out doorknocking with her and meeting voters who insisted on coming to greet her personally because she had recently managed to get street trees planted in that particular street.  

As well as serving as a Councillor she served for a long time on Willesden Consolidated Charities, Brent Housing Partnership, on Treetops Childrens Centre, in the management of the Local Government Intelligence Unit, in the Kings Hall Community Association and as a school governor on local schools.  She was also very proud of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.