Councillor Nasrine Djemai

TWO young meteors of the ruling Labour group at the Town Hall have been elevated to the council cabinet.

New Camden leader Richard Olszewski was left with two holes to fill in his executive after his predecessor Georgia Gould and the council’s regeneration chief Danny Beales were elected as MPs at last month’s general election.

After internal interviews, he has now selected Camron Aref-Adib, 28, to take over as the new finance supremo and therefore the face of Camden’s annual budget-setting.

There was also a call-up for Nasrine Djemai, 27, who was given the ‘new homes and community investment’ brief. The cabinet is the top table of the ten most senior councillors with effectively the final say on council policy. Both of the new faces were part of the 2022 intake which claimed a landslide victory at the boroughwide council elections.

Cllr Djemai had said on joining the council that she had been inspired to get involved in helping her community after seeing her home in Regent’s Park knocked down to make way for HS2 ­– the railway line which now might never even make it to Euston.

Councillor Camron Aref-Adib

The membership of the rest of the top team is staying the same, although James Slater and Nanouche Umeadi have been appointed as ‘associate’ cabinet members and can expect to be sitting in on important meetings. Edmund Frondigoun and Anna Burrage will serve as cabinet advisers.

After announcing the line-up, Cllr Olszewski set out a new council priority to bring down energy bills with plans to retrofit council homes and move to renewable energy.

Residents shouldn’t be having to worry about where their next meal may come from, or having a roof over their head,” he said, “Or see their lives turned upside down by energy bills spiking, and having to choose between heating or eating.”