After Len Duvall underwent major heart surgery in 2021, he was planning to step down as Greenwich and Lewisham’s London Assembly member at the next election, three years later.
But since then, Duvall, who is the only remaining member to have served on the assembly since it was created in 2000, has not only stepped up his involvement in City Hall affairs, by becoming the assembly’s chair, he has also been elevated to the House of Lords.
The former Greenwich Council leader’s new role was announced late last year, when he was nominated to the Lords alongside Lewisham’s outgoing elected mayor, Brenda Dacres.
Instead of retiring to spend time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Lord Duvall of Woolwich now has to balance his time between holding Sir Sadiq Khan to account in City Hall and serving as one of 223 Labour peers in the Lords.
“I was preparing for a different form of life after the next couple of years and planning for that,” Lord Duvall told the Local Democracy Reporting Service in his new office.
“Like everybody, I’ve got some great-grandchildren and grandchildren that I particularly want to spend time with. But when this invite came to consider joining the House of Lords, it was pretty special.
“It’s been a long time coming, and being here now inside the Lords is an experience. And the introduction on the day was pretty special for my friends and family and it was a milestone in terms of arriving in the Lords itself.”
Since then, he said, it had been “a hard grind”, adding: “We were in the middle of lots of votes on legislation, it’s that period of time, and lots of late nights.”
His maiden speech, made in February, came during a debate on the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill. While not one of his specialist subjects – Duvall has focused on City Hall and policing in his career – he noted that new peers “don’t get much choice” in when they speak for the first time.
“One of the points I made during my maiden speech was about change,” he said. “That this government was about promoting change. We need to think really seriously about how do we deal with change, how we cope with change, because sometimes it’s imposed on us and sometimes we create it in the journey.”
Lord Duvall’s opening salvo in the Lords in February reiterated his desire to continue working “for the benefit not just of London but of the country”. He paid tribute to his partner, Greenwich councillor Jackie Smith, and the NHS.
He was welcomed to the Lords by Baroness Thornton, who paid tribute to his career in SE London politics, which included leading Greenwich for eight years until 2000.
He is one of nine current and former London Assembly members to serve in the second chamber in Parliament. He is one of three Labour peers in that group, while there are four Lib Dems, one Green and a Conservative.
The peer said he intends to work “cross party” where he can to best serve both the government’s agenda of “change” and, naturally, the capital.
“There are limited opportunities to do that sort of work when you’re trying to push through the government legislation of the day,” he explained.
“But there are opportunities, and the House of Lords is made for that. When it happens, it’s through conversations and a better understanding from each other’s position.
“We all came together recently to celebrate 25 years of the London Assembly – and we all agreed the importance of this institution and what we want the future of it to be.”
Lord Duvall’s position as chair of the London Assembly – where he moderates all-member meetings, including Mayor’s Question Time – may come to an end on May 11, when members vote to see who will see out the next one-year term until May next year.
As a constituency assembly member, however, Duvall’s work will not end in City Hall – whether it be dealing with casework from constituents, sitting on various committees or holding Khan and other figures to account.
It looks likely he will step down at the election in 2028, after which he can dedicate more of his time to the Lords.
Duvall said that he still could not quite focus on his new role and more importantly, decide what his exact priorities were.
Lord Duvall added:” I’m still doing the other job, so I’m still a London Assembly member. I’m committed to seeing out the term, I’m not going to resign, so I’m juggling the two roles.
“Other assembly members have done it in the past. It’s not easy, but I think it’s doable, so that is really taking my focus – doing the two tasks.
“Really, at some stage I’m going to be aiming to focus what would I like to do.”
Kumail Jaffer is the Local Democracy Reporter covering London’s mayor and assembly. The Greenwich Wire is a partner in the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which is a BBC-funded initiative to ensure councils are covered properly in local media.
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