Keith Moffitt

Keith Moffitt is a British Liberal Democrat local government politician. He was a Councillor for West Hampstead from 1994, and in the local elections of May 2006 became the first ever Liberal Democrat Leader of Camden London Borough Council, ending Labour's 35-year hold on the borough. He was also the first openly gay leader of the council.[1]

Not to be confused with Keith Moffatt.

Keith Moffitt
Moffitt in 2015
Leader of Camden Council
In office
24 May 2006 – May 2010
DeputyAndrew Marshall
Preceded byRaj Chada
Succeeded byNasim Ali
Opposition Leader on Camden London Borough Council
In office
2010–2014
Preceded byNasim Ali
Succeeded byClaire-Louise Leyland
Lib Dem Group Leader on Camden Council
In office
12 May 2005 – 22 May 2014
Preceded byFlick Rea
Succeeded byFlick Rea
Camden Borough Councillor
for West Hampstead
In office
5 May 1994 – 22 May 2014
Succeeded byPhil Rosenberg
Personal details
Political partyLiberal Democrat

In the May 2010 local elections, Moffitt was re-elected for his West Hampstead seat, but removed as Council leader as Labour re-took control of the borough. Following the delayed Haverstock elections, which gave his party a higher number of seats than the Conservatives, he served as Leader of the Opposition. He lost his seat in the 2014 election.[2]

Career

Moffitt speaks fluent French, German and Portuguese. In 2004 he ran in the European elections to represent London in the European Parliament.

Before becoming leader of the council Moffitt worked as a translator. He previously had a 20-year career with British Coal, working in International Relations and European Community affairs, and was Chairman of the United Nations Working Party on Coal Trade from 1986 to 1992.

In 2006 Moffitt suspended his professional career in order to focus on his new role leading Camden Council. He subsequently resumed his career in languages and went on to become Chair of Council of the Chartered Institute of Linguists.[3] from 2012 to 2016.

Policies

Moffitt campaigned on a platform of freezing the Council Tax in his first year of office and, together with his Conservative coalition partners, honoured this pledge through the council's "Better and Cheaper" agenda. This cost-cutting programme attracted significant criticism from the opposition Labour party.

References
  1. "Camden Community Radio Reports on the Month". 19 November 2007.
  2. "Local Elections Results May 2014 - Camden Council". Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  3. "| CIOL (Chartered Institute of Linguists)".
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