Leonard Lloyd Duvall OBE (born 26 September 1961)[2] is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has been deputy chair of the London Assembly since May 2024. Additionally, Duvall has been serving as the Leader of the Labour Group in the London Assembly since 2004, and has been the Member of the London Assembly (AM) for Greenwich and Lewisham since 2000. Duvall is a former chair of both the Metropolitan Police Authority[3] and the London Labour Party Regional Board.[4]

Len Duvall
Duvall in 2024
Deputy Chair of the London Assembly
Assumed office
10 May 2024
Preceded byOnkar Sahota
Leader of the Labour Group in the London Assembly
Assumed office
2004[1]
LeaderTony Blair
Gordon Brown
Ed Miliband
Jeremy Corbyn
Keir Starmer
Preceded byToby Harris
Chair of the London Labour Party
In office
2002–2019
Preceded byChris Robbins
Succeeded byJim Kelly
Member of the London Assembly
for Greenwich and Lewisham
Assumed office
4 May 2000
Preceded byOffice Created
Majority43,159 (25.4%)
Personal details
Born (1961-09-26) 26 September 1961 (age 63)
Woolwich, London, England
Political partyLabour Co-op
ProfessionPolitician

Early life and career

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Duvall was born and raised in Woolwich.[5] Duvall was a councillor for the London Borough of Greenwich from 1990 until 2001, during which time he was deputy leader of the council, until 1992, when he became leader, a position he held until his election to the London Assembly.[6] He was one of the founders of the New Local Government Network, chair of the Thames Gateway London Partnership, chair of the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government, vice-chair of the Local Government Information Unit, a non–executive Director of Millennium Experience Ltd, deputy chair of the Association of London Government, a member of the Council of Europe and Chamber of the Regions, chair of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (1998–2005), and in 1998 he was appointed an OBE for "services to Local Government in London and to the Thames Gateway Partnership".[6][7]

London Assembly

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He was first elected as an AM in 2000, and retained his Greenwich and Lewisham seat in the 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021, 2024 elections.[8][9][10][11] Duval is the only remaining London Assembly member to have served continuously since the London Assembly was established in May 2000. He is leader of the Labour Group on the London Assembly, chair of both the EU Exit Working Group[12] and the GLA Oversight Committee, and Deputy Chair of the Budget and Performance Committee and the Budget and Monitoring Sub-Committee.[13]

Outside the London Assembly, he is a non-executive director of Tilfen Land, a property development company and a board member of the Royal Artillery Museums Trust,[14] his father and grandfather having served as gunners in the Royal Artillery.[5]

Daniel Morgan Inquiry

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In 2021 Duvall was praised by the Panel investigating the unsolved 1987 murder of Daniel Morgan for giving effective direction while chair of the Metropolitan Police authority.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "London Assembly Member Len Duvall". london.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 5 August 2004. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Duvall, Leonard, (born 26 Sept. 1961), Member (Lab) Greenwich and Lewisham, since 2000, and Leader, Labour Group, since 2004, London Assembly, Greater London Authority". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u14433. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  3. ^ "London Assembly Biography of Len Duvall". Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  4. ^ "Labour left sweeps the London regional board | LabourList". Labourlist.org. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Interview with Len Duvall, GLA Member for Greenwich & Lewisham". Greenwich.co.uk. 2 February 2009.
  6. ^ a b "London Assembly Biography of Len Duvall". Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  7. ^ "No. 55155". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 1998. p. 11.
  8. ^ "AllNetArticles - Submit Your High Quality Articles for Maximum Exposure". Glalabour.com. 20 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Results 2012". Londonelects.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Results 2016". Londonelects.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  11. ^ "Results 2021". Londonelects.org.uk.
  12. ^ "EU Exit Working Group | London City Hall". London.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  13. ^ "London Assembly – Membership of Committees/Bodies and Terms of Reference 2019/20 | London Assembly" (PDF). London.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  14. ^ "London Assembly Member Len Duvall". Archived from the original on 5 August 2004. Retrieved 14 February 2004.
  15. ^ The Report of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel June 2021. Vol. 3
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Party political offices
Preceded by
Chris Robbins
Chair of the London Labour Party
2002–2019
Succeeded by
Jim Kelly