Islington’s finance chief to quit executive in May and leave council next year

Cllr Ward (second from left) with party colleagues. Photograph: @diarmaid_w / X

Islington’s finance lead Diarmaid Ward has announced he is stepping down from the council’s executive in May and will not be seeking re-election in 2026.

Cllr Ward, who was first elected to represent Holloway in 2014, yesterday declared his intention to resign after nine “brilliant” years as part of the cabinet.

In a post on X, he said: “Being an Islington Council executive member is the best job I have ever had. But with the council elections coming up in 2026, it feels like the right time to hand over to someone new.

“I want to thank council leader Una O’Halloran for her support and understanding while I have been coming to this decision.”

Speaking to the Citizen, Cllr Ward today confirmed this meant he would also not be standing again at next year’s council elections.

He said that now was the right time “to look for [his] next opportunity”.

“I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at Islington Council and everyone across our brilliant borough who helped me over the years. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve,” he added.

Having first joined the executive in 2016 under the housing and planning brief, Cllr Ward took charge of the borough’s finances in 2022.

He said both roles were “incredibly rewarding, interesting and challenging in equal measure”.

Following the resignation of Kaya Comer-Schwartz in October last year, Ward briefly served as the council’s acting leader.

He and three other cabinet members launched bids for the top job in the ensuing leadership contest, where Cllr O’Halloran won by a clear margin in the first round of voting.

Ward denied that this outcome had influenced his decision.

“Una has been a great friend to me since we were both elected in 2014, and she has really hit the ground running as leader,” he said.

“I know that Islington Labour will continue to go from strength to strength.”

Cllr Benali Hamdache, leader of the Green Group and Islington Independents, said: “We wish Cllr Ward the best of luck in whatever comes next.

“This year’s budget is and will continue to be incredibly challenging. For years we’ve been told a Labour government will come in and save local government finances,” he said.

“Instead we’re being asked to make more than £10 million worth of savings, with cuts to youth services, nurseries and even the Christmas lights.

“Whomever comes in next has an incredibly hard job.”

Cllr Ward spoke to the Citizen last week about the council’s latest budget proposals, which included tax rises of 4.99 per cent and a planned £44 million in service cuts by 2030 — with over £14 million earmarked for the coming financial year alone.

While some of these choices were undesirable, he acknowledged, they were “the choice to make” to keep the borough’s frontline services going.

He also emphasised that 8,000 of Islington’s lowest-income households had been made completely exempt from paying council tax for the first time.

The now-departing finance lead said the highlights from his time in cabinet were “just too many to mention”, but was especially proud for having delivered new build council and social rent homes, “particularly ensuring that we managed to get 100 per cent council housing on eight of our projects”.

He pointed to securing a net gain of 135 social rent homes at the Barnsbury Estate in King’s Cross and a 60 per cent quota of “genuinely affordable homes” at the Holloway Prison site, “including 415 social rent homes”.