Leonie Cooper

Councillor Leonie Cooper AM
Member of the London Assembly for Merton and Wandsworth
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2016
Preceded by	Richard Tracey
Majority	4,301
Wandsworth London Borough Councillor for Furzedown
Incumbent
Assumed office May 2006
Personal details
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	University College London
Profession	Politician

Leonie Alison Cooper is a British Labour Party politician. Since May 2016 she has represented Merton and Wandsworth in the London Assembly. She has served as a Councillor on the Wandsworth London Borough Council since 2006, representing Latchmere 2006-10 and Furzedown Ward from 2010 onwards.

Background

Cooper serves as a Governor of Eardley Primary School. She previously served as a Co-Chair of the Socialist Environment and Resources Association (SERA), a socialist society affiliated to the Labour Party.^[1] Cooper remains a member of the SERA National Executive.

Political career

In the 1992 general election Cooper contested Hornchurch, coming second to the Conservative incumbent, Robin Squire.

Cooper was first elected to Wandsworth Borough Council in 2006, as a Councillor for the Latchmere Ward in Battersea. In 2010, she was elected as a Councillor for the Furzedown Ward in Tooting, re-elected in 2014.

In 2008 and 2012, Cooper contested the Merton and Wandsworth Assembly seat, losing on both occasions to Richard Tracey, although achieving an increase in the Labour vote of 5.2% and 7.5% respectively. In May 2016, Cooper defeated the Conservative candidate to become the first Labour representative for Merton and Wandsworth since the establishment of the London Assembly.^[2][3] This was the only Assembly seat to change hands in the May 2016 elections.

At the London Assembly Annual Meeting on 13th May 2016 Cooper was confirmed as the new Chair of the Assembly's Environment Committee 2016-18, and as a member of the Assembly's Housing Committee.

References