Tributes paid to Labour trailblazer Nicky Gavron

Nicky Gavron speaking at the Labour party conference in 2006

Celebrities, cabinet ministers and political opponents have paid tribute to London’s first deputy mayor, Nicky Gavron.

Ms Gavron, 82, who was deputy to Ken Livingstone for seven years between 2000 and 2008, died at home on 30 August.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said her service to the capital was "immeasurable".

"Her commitment to tackling climate change inspired many, and she pioneered many of the policies that have led London to be the world leader it is today," he added.

'I loved that woman'

Andrew Boff, chairman of the London Assembly who has served as a Conservative AM since 2008, paid warm tribute to Ms Gavron on X, formerly Twitter.

He said: "I loved that woman: strong enough to fight for what she believed in and brave enough to change her mind when the evidence demanded it. A huge loss to London. I will miss her greatly."

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on X: "A stalwart of London and Haringey politics, she was a life force at City Hall.

"Passionate about the climate emergency, the built environment and urban planning, she improved the lives of so many people."

Campaigner Bianca Jagger tweeted: "She was an outstanding woman, a champion of the environment."

Ms Gavron was born in Worcester in 1941 and raised by a German-Jewish mother who had fled Nazi Berlin as a teenager.

She moved to London in the 1960s to study History of Art and Architecture at the Courtauld Institute and then worked as a teacher.

'Archway Road made me a politician'

Her half-century of activism started in the 1970s with the co-founding of Jacksons Lane Arts Centre in Highgate and campaigning against the widening of the Archway Road in north London.

"It was the Archway Road that made me a politician," she said.

Ms Gavron served as London's deputy mayor during the first eight years of the Greater London Assembly, as well as representing Enfield and Haringey on the London Assembly from 2000 until 2004.

She served on the London Assembly from its formation in 2000 until 2021, chairing the Planning and Housing committees as a London-wide member.

Ken Livingstone tasked her with leading on the capital's overall development strategy, which became the London Plan.

Ms Gavron was an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and was 2023's Londoner of the Year, awarded by the New London Architecture Forum.

She is survived by her daughters Sarah and Jessica, stepson Jeremy, godson Cato and 10 grandchildren.