Julian Bell (politician)

Julian Bell is an English politician who has been leader of Ealing Borough Council since 2010.

Early life

Bell grew up in Sheffield and is a keen supporter of Sheffield United F.C. He later moved to Ealing in 1985 and has lived there ever since.

He read Politics and Economics at the University of Bath.^[1]

Political career

In 2002 Julian Bell won his first council seat in Acton Central ward and was a councillor in the ward for a term which ended in 2006. In the year's elections he won a seat in his current ward of Greenford Broadway. However Labour had lost Ealing Council so the Labour group leader vacated but he expressed no interest. In 2008 the role of Labour group leader vacated again (the incumbent resigned due to pregnancy) and Bell won the contest. Two years later Ealing elected again, Labour won 12 seats to gain the council while the Conservatives lost 13 and the Liberal Democrats had won one more seat, which meant Bell was officially the new council leader. In 2014 he retained his title and Labour picked up 13 seats seeing them further over the needed amount.

He was elected as chair of London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee (TEC) on 17 July.^[2]

Social housing controversy

In December 2014, it was revealed that Bell was a housing association tenant via the A2 Dominion group, whilst also owning a house valued at £1 million, and he was branded a hypocrite in the media in light of his previous statements on the housing shortage in the UK.^[3] Ealing council declined to investigate the issue and declared that he had "no case to answer". ^[4]

References