First elected in the West Ruislip Ward (Now Ruislip) in 2008, John has held a number of posts on Hillingdon Council reflecting his significant community and wider interests. To date he has held office as: Chairman of the Children and Young Persons POC, Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Board, Deputy Chairman of Executive Scrutiny Committee, Chairman of External Services Select Committee and Chairman of the Standards Committee. John is in Cabinet holding the portfolio for Public Safety and Transport which sees him responsible for policing, ASB and other safety issues together with all aspects of transport in the Borough roads, pavements and parking issues.
Both sides of this heavily public facing portfolio are aspects of Borough life which John is keenly interested in, his long experience as a Barrister in criminal practice giving him a useful insight into policing and safety issues and his forensic skills being applied to all areas of this dual role.
John is a prolific campaigner at a local and wider levels, having stood for selection as a candidate for the GLA seat of Hillingdon and Ealing. John has campaigned across London and beyond, this being an aspect of political life that he is particularly at ease with and that he enjoys.
In the wider political field John has long worked with and for the LGA in various roles, he acts as a Peer Mentor for other Councillors and is a regular speaker and presenter at LGA events.
Among his other interests John is a published writer and a member of an international academic group who specialise in serious sexual and violent crime research, frequently submitting advisory papers to government departments. Most recently John appeared before the Home Affairs Select Committee as part of an expert panel advising on better investigative and prosecutorial methods in serious sexual crime.
