Congratulations to Old Stopfordian Ryan Jude (OS 2014) who has become the first ever Labour Party Councillor for Lancaster Gate ward in Westminster, alongside fellow new Councillor, Eleanor Ormsby.​ 

This is the first time in history, since its inception in 1964, that Westminster City Council has been won by Labour, ​the most unexpected result in the recent local elections.

Ryan remarked:

It’s an amazing feeling to be part of this historic moment, but the real hard work starts now. Westminster is one of the richest councils in the UK, yet 30% of people are in poverty - and over 40% of children grow up in poverty. Despite this, Westminster has been run by a council that constantly wastes money in all the wrong places, including the infamous Marble Arch Mound - which cost £6 million of taxpayers' money.

We campaigned on setting out a vision for how Westminster could be better and work for all its residents. Now we must implement that vision, and bring about a fairer, greener and more caring Westminster.

Outside of his role in politics, Ryan is a Programme Director at the Green Finance Institute, where he advises the UK Government on green finance regulation, works on environmental policy and supports councils across the country on funding their climate action targets. He also presents the Green is the New Finance podcast series, showcasing leading thinking on how to mobilise capital towards a greener, more inclusive and climate-resilient global economy.

Through his involvement in, and passion for climate action, Ryan has also been appointed Deputy Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Biodiversity​ at Westminster City Council, with responsibility for delivering the climate policies in Westminster Labour's ambitious manifesto.

To read more about Ryan's vision read his pre-election blog here.

Reflecting on Ryan's time at Stockport Grammar School, Modern Foreign Languages Teacher, Mrs Christmann recalls:

Ryan is an excellent linguist and gained a high A in his German A level. In 2013, he represented SGS, together with Jed Holloway,  at the 7th Northern Schools German Languages Debating Competition. The German team won their group and semi-final to go through to the final and won against Manchester High debating “It’s better to go on holiday in your home country" . They won the German Debate for the second year in a row for SGS. Ryan and Jed gave an outstanding performance, displaying excellent linguistic and debating skills, and I was very proud of them. It was a privilege and joy to teach Ryan GCSE and A level German.

 We cannot wait to see what is next for Ryan.

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