LBWF Cabinet member Cllr. Victoria Ashworth takes a new job in Greece…but reportedly wants to remain a councillor in Waltham Forest too (yes, you read that right)

In April 2025, Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities, Cllr. Victoria Ashworth (previously Vicky te Velde) announced on Linkedin that she had become Port Chaplin for the Mission to Seafarers, based in Piraeus, Greece.

Shortly afterwards, it is said, she told her Labour Party colleagues that, despite her new job overseas, she intended to remain a councillor in Waltham Forest until her four-year term of office expires in May next year, and as of today, according to the LBWF website, that is what appears to be happening.

It goes without saying that this is a surprising and very unusual path to be following (there are precedents elsewhere, but only a few) and unsurprisingly some have wondered whether it is legal.

The law is that local councillors are required to be British or from the Commonwealth; at least 18 years old; and registered to vote in the borough where they are standing, or have lived, worked, or owned property there for at least 12 months before an election.

It is not known exactly which of the latter set of conditions Cllr. Ashworth satisfies, but as she was first elected as long ago as 2018, she is almost certainly compliant.

Consequently, as far as the legalities are concerned, she seems to be free to carry out her plans.

Nevertheless, whether she will be thought wise is a different matter entirely.

She evidently feels she can manage both jobs, and so far, at least, her attendance record at LBWF committees, including Cabinet, if not perfect, is no worse than some of her peers:

On the other hand, since she receives generous pay from the public purse (according to the latest figures, the basic £11,576 allowance plus a special responsibility allowance of £23,877) many will feel that, even in the age of Zoom, she should be present in Waltham Forest throughout the working week. 

It’s true, too, that with LBWF currently cutting services and instituting redundancies, for someone in the Cabinet, no less, to be stretching convention for her own purposes is unlikely to be universally applauded.

Making matters worse, Cllr. Ashworth seems quite thin-skinned when asked about all this on social media, and a few weeks ago responded to a mildly inquisitive local resident by blocking them.

Anyway, it will be interesting to follow developments.

However, as things stand, there is an intriguing postscript.

According to the LBWF constitution, councillors have 28 days to record relevant changes in their circumstances on their LBWF Register of Interests (RoI) forms. 

Up to now, Cllr. Ashworth hasn’t declared her new job on her RoI form, although the 28-day deadline may not be quite up (her exact start date is unknown).

But it’s what she does include on her RoI form that invites the most curiosity. 

Her form was last updated on 17 March 2025, and parts 1 and 2 read as follows:

In other words, on top of being a senior councillor and Cabinet member, and taking a new job in Greece, if her RoI form is to be believed, Cllr. Ashworth is also presently working at the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Ministry of Justice. 

She doesn’t have two paying jobs, she has four!

Hold on, though, because as of today, her own Linkedin page, which she regularly updates, tells a slightly different story, with her time at the GLA now listed as a mere nine months in 2021-22:

It’s difficult to tell which of these two versions is truthful.

The only certainty is that they both can’t be.