Remembering Margot Dunn

Margot  Dunn 1930-1926: the heart of liberalism in Islington

Councillor for Holloway Ward, 1994-2006

Mayor of Islington, 2002-03

James Kempton, former councillor and leader of Islington Council, looks back fondly on his friend and colleague, Margot Dunn, who recently passed away.

It is hard for anyone from the generation that won control of Islington in 2000 and ran it for the next decade, to imagine doing so without the magnetic presence, energy and heart of Margot Dunn.

She had much to give and gave generously and with great kindness. There was always a cup of tea at her house, served with a diatribe on Labour’s latest failures, a masterclass in campaigning practice and a seat at the stickers and stuffers table to keep your hands busy while you rested your canvasser’s legs. She was the perfect pairing for the fantastic leadership and second-to-none organisational skills of Steve Hitchins.

Sadly we have now lost both and it truly feels like the end of an era.  

My first encounter with Margot was a “virtual” one. But very typically Margot. I arrived back in Islington from a work conference to discover a box of Focuses in the hall.

Apparently an unknown and very determined woman had called out of the blue, insistent that I would deliver them for her. My partner was powerless to resist her. And so it turned out was I.

Margot was never shy to say what she wanted and her word was law.

That was Margot and she never changed.

Before long the Focus delivery turned into being a candidate alongside Margot in a target ward, that we won together with Douglas Taylor in 1994.

Success at the ballot box at last for Margot after years of Liberal Party campaigning and community activism. Margot threw herself into opposition councillor, then majority LibDem administration member, then Mayor of Islington. Margot lost her seat in 2006 along with many LibDem councillors in Islington.

But her passion for liberalism, for fixing people’s problems and for education and being a school governor, stayed the focus of her life, just as it had always been.

James Kempton
Former councillor and Islington Council Leader