Dave Poyser: Mayor of Islington 2018-19

Everyone has a story. What’s it like being Mayor of Islington? Our current Mayor, real name Dave Poyser, explains how the role makes people happy and why he’s raising money for homeless people in the borough and Freightliners Farm. Q&A with Nicola Baird

Q: What’s your connection to Islington?
I came here in 1979 to do a postgraduate journalism diploma at The City University. The journalism department was then tiny as it had only just begun. Now it is one of the largest journalism departments in the country, with an international reputation. In those days you had to start your journalism career working on a local paper, so I first covered Islington Council Meetings in the late 1970s and the early 1980s as a journalism student and when I got my first job as a Reporter on the Hackney Gazette.

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Q: How long have you lived and/or worked in Islington?
I have lived here – certainly at weekends – most of the time since 1979. First of all, I lived as one of a gang of students in Grosvenor Avenue in Mildmay, and I stayed on there when I worked on the New Statesmanand the Hackney Gazette. I had jobs all over the place – in Leeds, Birmingham and even Brussels but I came back to Islington virtually every weekend.

We lived by Finsbury Park in Plimsoll Road (in two different houses at different times) and in a former council-owned property in Highbury Grove.

A few years ago, my family thought we might like to move, so, after 30 years here, we tried renting a place in Marylebone (renting out our house in Islington) but we all missed the Islington area, and we missed our Islington friends even more, so we never sold our Islington house and we came back here.

Work-wise, I worked for a TV company near the Angel, producing science documentaries for Channel Four. I also have worked for many years as a freelance TV producer and writer so I have often worked from home, here in Islington.

Q:  Which bit do you know best?
I feel I know every inch of my Ward, Hillrise, which is right up in the northernmost part of the borough by the Archway. It includes the Elthorne Estate, Elthorne Park, the New Orleans Walk Estate and Whitehall Park. Unlike most of Islington, we have only one pub, hardly any shops, and our only restaurant is only open four days a week. So, it’s not like Upper Street or Holloway Road which are the spine of most council wards here in Islington.

In terms of knowing the whole borough I am lucky to have been a student in the south of the borough, to have lived in the middle of the borough and to represent the north of the borough. We now live just off the Holloway Road.

Q:   What’s special about Islington for you?
I love the creative culture. But I say all the time that Islington is a very unequal borough (in terms of child poverty we are in the 10 worst areas in England and Wales), so the ‘cappuccino and sushi’ image is completely misleading, but it is a very tolerant, diverse, and creative area. I have knocked on doors from Smithfield to the Archway, and it’s amazing the fascinating creative people you meet. I think it is no coincidence that Charles Dickens, Kate Garraway and Mary Wollstonecraft are all associated with our borough, leading right on in a direct line through George Orwell in the 1940s to the hipsters of the Old Street roundabout now developing state-of-the-art software and computer games.

I believe this tradition goes right back many hundreds of years to the days when the people who lived within the walls of The City of London came outside to Clerkenwell and Finsbury for their entertainment.

Q: What’s stood out for you during your Mayoral year?
The highlight of my year was the 1918 centenary Remembrance Sunday. We started in Islington Green, with a wonderful crowd, and I was particularly proud the way we merged the traditional hymns and poems, with singing from a Rabbi, and speeches from an Imam, a Hindu and a Buddhist. As the troops marched past, we could see the plaque to Gracie Fields who used to live there, and the silhouette of the soldier added this year in memory of the people in Islington and Finsbury who died between 1914 and 1918. Lest We Forget!

We moved on to the Spa Green, where the Honourable Artillery Company were among the uniformed groups showing their respect to the dead. They are the second oldest regiment in the world, second only to the Swiss Guard at the Vatican with whom they have close links. We were just opposite Sadler’s Wells, one of Europe’s best ballets. Wow!

From there, to Manor Gardens in the north of Islington where I read poems and the Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn MP, read poems and addressed us.

Finally, in the evening after dark, we were high up in Dartmouth Park Hill where you get a fantastic view as far as Kent. I was able to light Islington’s beacon, while we all sang First World War songs in remembrance, knowing the beacons were lit at the same time across the country from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

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Places the Mayor loves in Islington

• Highbury Fieldshas always been a focal point in the middle of our Borough, and it was fun to celebrate the Jewish Summer Fete there in the summer, and there have been a host of other events including the fun run and the Mini-Mermaids, which is a fun run for toddlers.
• In Islington Green, the Menorah lighting in Decemberis very moving, especially as so many people come from all over on a cold evening.
• We may be one of the smallest borough, but to have the Honourable Artillery Company, Sadler’s Wells, the Arsenal, leading universities, St John’s Gate(1504) where St John’s Ambulance was founded, the historic Charterhouse and (part of) the Whittington Hospital all in the same, small borough is a big achievement.

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Q:     How do you get to be The Mayor?
Most London boroughs choose their mayor from the elected councillors, and you serve a sort of apprenticeship year as Deputy Mayor (who has a chain, but no robes). I told fellow councillors I was keen to do it to promote my charities, as I used to be a volunteer in Islington’s homeless shelters.

I also made it clear that wherever possible, I would try to use my experience in the communications business to help Islingtonians know what a wonderful borough they live in. Islington Faces Blog is one of many wonderful things that helps much-needed communication about our wonderful borough. I have started a Mayor of Islington Instagram, and everywhere I go as Mayor I tweet something.

I was also able to tell my fellow councillors when they made me Deputy Mayor that, as a recently qualified Blue Badge London tour guide, I would do all I could to promote Islington’s 1000-year history.

Q: You know those questions, ‘What would you do if you were mayor for the day?’ – what’s a perfect day for you…
 It sounds a cliché, but the perfect day is when you can make people happy as Mayor. Ceremonies are great, and it is important to have a civic dignitary at many events, but Islington has an army of volunteers and it is really wonderful to be able to thank them for what they do. When people suggest the Mayor thanks an unsung hero for volunteering, it often gets back to me that recognising their work has made a huge difference.

Most Islington charities represent our wonderful diversity, which is part of our strength as a borough. One example is the charity Chance UK – where local residents, working in a variety of industries, give up their spare time to mentor Islington’s children who have had a challenging start in life. Handing out the awards at a ceremony like this can make a perfect day.

I was going around the stalls at a summer event in Newington Green (Mildmay Ward) thanking the (mostly) volunteers running them, and two Italians refused to believe I really was the Mayor (not just someone in a dressing-up kit) until a local councillor Googled the photo of the Mayor of Islington to show them!

Being Mayor literally stretches from going around London meeting the Royal Family on important state occasions, to avoiding mud in a public park as you thank volunteers – all on the same day. Some days there are 100s of photos. I am not sure if people necessarily always use the photos, but getting a photo is something to do when you are with a Mayor, like we used to collect autographs when I was young.

Q:  Tell us something about your black and gold Mayoral Hat?
Most male London Mayors have something similar, and women Mayors have a tricorn hat as you can see in this photo of us all at Westminster Abbey.  People say I look like a pirate! Its origins go right back into history.

It’s difficult to remember to take it off in church, as it is so much part of the Mayor’s ceremonial robes, and the Mayor often enters the church as part of a procession. If I forget to take it off, I think it is best to leave it on for the whole ceremony (if I am not blocking someone behind!) and make it look deliberate.

In Islington there are two men’s hats and two women’s hats. The Mayor’s office are fantastic at looking after them and making them fit. In this age of austerity, Sue Goss, who has worked tirelessly with many different mayors for many years, is not above taking it home to repair it herself. Is it comfortable? It is such an honour to wear it that I have never asked myself if it is comfortable! It is certainly not uncomfortable. Kids love wearing it! The last two Mayors were women, Cllr Kat Fletcher and Cllr Una O’Halloran, and wore the tricorn (a three-pointed) hat.

Q: What have your special charities been and how has the fundraising gone?
Islington Faces has written about homelessness crisis. We are the sixth richest country in the world, for heaven’s sake. Before becoming Mayor, I worked with St Mungo’s, the Simon Community (who have hostels around London) and then I was in the congregation at Christ Church in Highbury Fields and at St Andrew’s Church in my Ward and many parishioners were involved in keeping the churches open for the homeless on winter nights through an organisation called CARIS which runs the shelters. We hope the funds raised will help us to help our homeless guests after they leave us, e.g. by providing lunch boxes, or the money to get to job interviews etc.

Readers of Islington Faces will know about the wonderful work done by Freightliners Farm (see interview with farm manager Liz McAllister). It was great when I took our daughter and her friends there, when she was younger. Though they have cute animals, they also have fascinating crops and they need ‘seed capital’ (pardon the pun) as they were threatened with closure because funds wore thin. With the Mayoral charity money, they hope to be able to improve some of their buildings so they can have a new income stream hiring them out for corporate events. Fingers crossed.

Q: there anything I haven’t asked that you think Islington Faces readers would like to know?
The role of Mayor has to keep up with the times. The previous two Mayors were wonderful, pushing the boundaries of the sorts of things Mayors can do. There was a wonderful tweet of one of them joining in a game of touch rugby. They both bought ultra-glitzy red high-heeled shoes to go with the Mayoral red robes, so I followed this new tradition and bought some red shoes myself! I am now looking to hire some ‘mayoral boots’ before I stop being Mayor – watch this slot! Eat your hearts out previous Mayors.

• You can see what the Mayor is doing on twitter @IslingtonMayor (where he has 1.6k followers) and Instagram @mayorofislington
• The Mayor’s charities are CARIS and Freightliners Farm. Donations are very welcome. More than 500 people volunteer at CARIS’ night shelters during the winter. To see how you can volunteer call 07913 020738. Twitter @carisislington
• If you’d like to ask the Mayor to join an Islington event you are running you need to contact the Mayor’s Parlour, via an email TheMayor@islington.gov.uk