North London borough has replaced angry Deputy Mayor who shouted abuse at parking warden

A North London borough has named its youngest ever Deputy Mayor to replace a councillor who resigned from the role following a tirade of abuse at a parking warden. The post has been vacant since last month when the previous Deputy Mayor resigned after 'breaching the Code of Conduct', when she made an 'unreasonable and excessive personal verbal attack' on a parking warden.

Brondesbury Park Councillor, Ryan Hack, has become the youngest Deputy Mayor of Brent after a narrow victory against Northwick Park Councillor, Narinder Singh Bajwa. Cllr Hack's election to the role was only possible after his predecessor, Cllr Diane Collymore, resigned from the position for 'unequivocally and deliberately offensive, disparaging and discriminatory' behaviour towards a parking warden who had issued her with a fine.

As well as resigning as Deputy Mayor, Cllr Collymore stepped down from positions she held on committees and has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation. The incident happened on London Road, Wembley on May 20 of this year, not long after she was elected to the role.

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A subsequent investigation by the council's Audit and Standards Advisory Committee found that her behaviour 'could reasonably be regarded as bringing her office into disrepute'. Cllr Collymore had threatened to report the warden to officials after receiving a ticket for parking on a yellow line.

She asked why a ticket had been issued, but did not allow the warden to explain why, repeatedly stating she did not require a response from him, the report said. She also implied that the warden had married someone to remain in the UK, telling him she would report him to immigration services.

Cllr Collymore had initially appealed against the ticket saying she had displayed her blue parking badge whilst parked on double yellow lines and hadn't seen the additional parking restrictions assigned to the area. She later accepted the findings and apologised, claiming she was 'terribly upset' as she believed she was receiving an 'unfair ticket'.

The warden's complaint was backed up by video evidence from a head-cam he was wearing. The investigation concluded that Cllr Collymore used language that was insulting and in which she appeared 'to seek to intimidate' by referring to her councillor role and connections at the council.

Following the investigation, Cllr Collymore was asked to undertake refresher Code of Conduct and equalities training, but later resigned from her various roles. A Brent Labour Group spokesperson said at the time: "We unequivocally condemn the conduct displayed during this incident, which falls short of the high standards expected within the Labour Party. We have written to the member of staff to offer our apology on behalf of the entire Labour Group."

Youngest ever Deputy Mayor of Brent elected

The new Deputy Mayor Ryan Hack, 26, was born and bred in the borough and is known for his campaign work to tackle food hunger and child poverty. These causes are personal to Cllr Hack as he was raised in the borough by a single mum who would 'skip meals in order to afford his school uniform' and his family survived using food banks, according to his online biography. He was state educated in Brent, first attending Preston Park Primary School, before going to Claremont High School.

Since being elected in 2022, Cllr Hack says he has campaigned 'to improve residents' access to healthy food' by opening or supporting community kitchens and surplus food markets in the area. He has volunteered at food banks and community kitchens across the borough, even helping London's Community Kitchen gain access to the council's kitchen facilities and redistributing around 45,000 meals to the most vulnerable families across North West London.

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