Tom Copley

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Tom Phillip Copley (born 11 May 1985) is a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician who serves as the Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Residential Development, a role he began in March 2020. He was a London-wide member of the London Assembly from 2012 to 2020, and he was the youngest person ever elected to the Assembly. He also served as a Lewisham Council councillor for Sydenham from 2018 to 2021, before resigning.

Background: Copley was born in Stockport, studied Politics at the University of Nottingham, and attended Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury. Before politics, he worked for Searchlight, an anti-racist group, and helped Labour campaigns in Camden as well as Ken Livingstone’s 2012 mayoral campaign. He led London Young Labour (2008–2009) and served on the Young Labour National Committee (2008–2011). He first ran for Camden Council in 2010 but was not elected.

Elections and roles: In 2012, he was fourth on Labour’s Londonwide list and was elected to the London Assembly, becoming the youngest member. He was re-elected in 2016 as the second on Labour’s list. In 2018 he was elected to Lewisham Council for Sydenham. In 2020 he left the Assembly to focus on his deputy mayor role; Alison Moore took his place on Labour’s list. He resigned from Lewisham Council in 2021.

As Deputy Mayor, Copley leads housing policy in London and chairs the Assembly’s Housing Committee. He has spoken on homelessness, rent regulation, and reforms to the Right to Buy scheme. He also led a movement against the Garden Bridge project and headed a related working group.

Community and beliefs: Copley is openly gay and has been a patron of LGBT Labour. He serves on the boards of New Diorama Theatre and Humanists UK. He is a member of the Co-operative Party, the Fabian Society, Unite and GMB, and he supports republicanism.

Personal life: He lives in Catford, London.