Political career
Dickson was first elected as a Councillor for Herne Hill in the 1990 Lambeth London Borough Council election,and he became the Leader of Lambeth Council in 1994. [6] At the 2001 General Election he was Labour's candidate [7] in Old Bexley and Sidcup.
Dickson has held various cabinet positions on the Lambeth Borough Council (such as Voluntary and Community Sectors,Finance and Health and Social Care). [3] [8] [9] He was leading Lambeth's Labour Group when it was praised as being "more New Labour than New Labour" by former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair. [10] He is a member of Progressive Britain. [5] During his tenure in Lambeth Council,he was at the centre of various schemes that aimed to tackle the area’s poor health and heightened levels of inequality. He took a particular interest in tackling food poverty connected to his health portfolio [11] including being part of a 2017 initiative that made Lambeth the first council to sign the Declaration on Sugar Reduction and Healthier Food; [12] and in 2022 he,alongside other Lambeth colleagues,called on the Government to take greater action against food poverty. [13]
In 2016 Dickson faced public ire during protests against the council's cuts to libraries,as well as their plans to turn Carnegie Library into a gym. [14] [15] The library was occupied for nine days by protestors after it was closed in March 2016,after which they voluntarily left the building before being evicted,and the occupation ended with a protest march to Brixton Library. [16] [17]
He was also involved in a series of measures introduced by Lambeth Council aimed at addressing LGBT+ health and wellbeing,and was a signatory to a letter addressing the Government’s negligence of LGBT+ health in the wake of the monkeypox outbreak. [18] T owards the end of his time at Lambeth Borough Council,he was also able to help secure £5 million towards health research funding in the borough. [19]
At the 2024 General Election,Dickson was elected as the MP for Dartford and has offered vocal support to the Lower Thames Crossing,though the Government delayed the planning decision. [20] His key election policy was 'Taking Pride in Dartford',an initiative to revitalise Dartford's high streets and cultural scene. Since being elected to parliament,Dickson has attracted local attention to his campaign to get the A226 Galley Hill Road rebuilt and reopened. [21] In 2024,he called for additional government funding towards dementia,citing challenges with the disease in his own family. [22] In November 2024,Dickson was among 34 MPs who signed a letter demanding that the management agency FirstPort face scrutiny in parliament. [23] He voted in favour of legalising assisted dying. In 2025,in the wake of videos circulating on TikTok of animals being harmed by catapults,Jim Dickson called for increased powers for the police to be able to confiscate catapults from under 18s. [24]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
