About us

For a more equal future

Our ambition for 2030 is to create a more equal future for Islington, where everyone who lives here is able to thrive. We want Islington to be a place where people know their children will get the very best start in life, where people can access help and support when they need it and where wealth is created and enjoyed locally. A place where people can live sustainable, happy and healthy lives.

A classroom of smilingchildren sitting around a table arms outstretched to the camera with their teacher standing with the same welcome gesture

Our mission

We have set ourselves five missions to create a more equal future for Islington in 2030.

  • Child-friendly Islington: A place where all children and young people are rooted in a community where they feel safe, can thrive and are able to be part of and lead change.
  • Fairer Together: Everyone in Islington who needs extra help and support can access the right support for them at the right time and in the right place.
  • A safe place to call home: Everyone in Islington has a safe, decent and genuinely affordable place to call home.
  • Community wealth building: A sustainable, inclusive, and locally-rooted economy in Islington, where wealth is shared fairly and residents and businesses feel they have a stake in their community.
  • Greener, healthier Islington: Communities in Islington can access, and enjoy London’s greenest, cleanest and healthiest neighbourhoods and are able to live healthy, fulfilling and independent lives.

Find out more about our Islington Together 2030 plan. 

Our values

We are among the largest London borough council employers with around 4,700 directly employed in our commitment to delivering in-house services. To achieve our ambitious goals, we need a Chief Executive who can empower and develop this large, dedicated workforce to deliver our Islington Together 2030 plan.

Everyone who works at Islington Council lives by a set of values which guide us in everything that we do: collaborative, ambitious, resourceful, and empowering. They spell out ‘CARE’, which is what we think public service is all about.

We’re here for our residents. Their lives – their experiences, their opportunities and their futures – are what drive us. We’ve transformed Islington, working closely with the community to ensure their voice and viewpoints are heard. And we’ve done it with determination and a steely focus on tackling inequalities, including looking at ourselves as an organisation.

Among our peers, we are seen as a pioneering council. We are the first London borough to be accredited as a Living Wage Place, in 2021, after almost ten years of being a Living Wage council. We have led the way on people-friendly streets with liveable low-traffic neighbourhoods and school streets.

We don’t do this to win awards. We have got on with the business of making radical and significant changes. We were the first to set up a Fairness Commission, putting inequality in our borough under intense scrutiny. The commission’s findings have underpinned our work for more than a decade, as we create a borough where everyone can thrive.

We know there are challenges ahead and we’ll respond with resilience and determination. The innovation, creativity, leadership, and initiative comes directly from our people. In Islington, we are actively shaping futures and changing outcomes together.

Working in our borough

Islington is a small, densely populated, inner London borough serving approximately 215,000 residents.

We’re one of the most vibrant parts of London, with a diverse population, a unique cultural identity and a wealth of open spaces, theatres, museums, cinemas and galleries.

Islington is easy to get to and easy to get around. We have office locations across the borough and excellent transport links.

Buildings, including the Hope and Anchor theatre pub, and people crossing the road on Upper Street in Islington, London