Oliver Cooper (politician)

Oliver Cooper (born 1987)[1] is an English Conservative politician. He is the Leader of the party on Camden London Borough Council representing Hampstead Town.

For other people named Oliver Cooper, see Oliver Cooper (disambiguation).

Oliver Cooper
Leader of the Opposition on Camden Council
Assumed office
2018
Preceded byGio Spinella
Camden councillor for Hampstead Town
Assumed office
2015
Preceded bySimon Marcus
Personal details
Born1987 (age 34–35)
Political partyConservative
Alma materUniversity College London

Cooper was elected to represent Hampstead Town Ward on Camden Council in 2015. He became the Leader of the Opposition after the 2018 elections. Ahead of the 2022 Camden Borough elections, Cooper chose to move from his 'safe' Conservative ward to the Tory-Lib Dem split ward of Belsize.[2]

He has appeared in the national news by highlighting some Labour members disrupting a minute's silence for Tessa Jowell,[3] securing an official rebuke of Sadiq Khan for allegedly misusing crime statistics in 2018,[4] attacking the Revolutionary Communist Group speaking in Camden Council,[5] intervening and stopping Islamophobic violence on the London Underground in September 2019[6] and helping get rid of antisemitic graffiti in his area in December 2019.[7][8][9][10][11] In 2022, The Times and The Telegraph reported his criticism of censoring or removing statues in Camden of Mahatma Gandhi, Virginia Woolf, and other figures.[12][13]

He wrote in The Telegraph in 2015 unsuccessfully asking Tories not to vote for Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader.[14] He was the deputy chairperson of the Hampstead and Kilburn Conservatives.[15] Before coming a councillor, he was criticised in The Guardian for using Taxpayers' Alliance data to criticise high pay in Camden Council.[16]

Cooper was the national chairman of the Conservative youth organisation Conservative Future from 2013 to 2014. The Times reported that the organisation was "working really really well"[17] until he was a victim of Mark Clarke in the nationally reported "Tatler Tory" bullying scandal.[18] Cooper stood down after Clarke threatened to spread false rumours about him if he stood for re-election leading to Clarke replacing him with Clarke's lover.[19][20] He had previously relaunched the European Young Conservatives.[21]

Revitalisation of Belsize Village
Belsize Village Streatery on July 19, 2020.
Ministerial visit to Belsize Village. Left to right: Robert Jenrick, Aya Khazaal, Robert Stephenson-Padron and Oliver Cooper. Belsize Village, London, UK. July 30, 2020.


Oliver Cooper, as leader of the Conservative Group of Camden Council, supported the development of the Belsize Village Streatery in the summer of 2020 as a measure to mitigate the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy[22] and help continue the revitalisation of the community started by the Belsize Village Business Association in October 2018.[23][24] Cooper coordinated the release of £55,911 in community infrastructure levy (CIL) funds (£18,637 from each ward of Belsize, Frognal & Fitzjohns and Hampstead Town) to fund the Belsize Village Streatery.[25] As the first scheme of its kind after the end of Lockdown 1 of COVID-19 restrictions in the UK, the Belsize Village Streatery received a ministerial visit on July 30, 2020 by then-Secretary of State Robert Jenrick, whose visit was hosted by Cooper.[26]

Oliver Cooper at the 2021 opening of the Belsize Village Streatery (its 2nd year of operation) on April 13, 2021. Left to right: Oliver Cooper, Belsize Village Business Association co-coordinator Aya Khazaal, Belsize Village Business Association project foreman Richard Lagani and Belsize Village Business Association co-coordinator Robert Stephenson-Padron.
Oliver Cooper meeting with two of the streatery organisers: Belsize Village Business Association co-coordinator Aya Khazaal and Belsize Village Business Association head of gardening Jane Lyons on July 11, 2020.

According to the Belsize Village Business Association, the Belsize Village Streatery "helped save several businesses and over 100 local jobs."[23] Data from Camden Council showed that amdist the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, spending in Belsize Village rose 111.6%[27] year-on-year to August-Oct 2020 against an overall difficult economic backdrop. A 14-day consultation held by Camden Council in the summer of 2021 found that 91.5% of residents and businesses supported extending the Belsize Village Streatery.[28] On February 10, 2022, Cooper spoke in favour of making the Belsize Village Streatery permanent at the Camden Council Licencing Committee - the permanence of the scheme was approved at the meeting. At the licencing committee, Cooper said “The revitalisation of Belsize Village has been nothing short of a miracle in the last two years.”[29]

References
  1. Pitel, Laura. "How tougher times have bred a harder edged young generation". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  2. "Conservative leader set to switch wards for Belsize election challenge".
  3. Yorke, Harry; Ryan, Verity (29 May 2018). "Labour members outraged as far-Left activists disrupt minute's silence to Tessa Jowell". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  4. Correspondent, Fiona Hamilton | Richard Ford, Home. "Sadiq Khan rebuked for misusing crime figures". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  5. Nellist, Tom (21 January 2019). "'Hateful' hard-left campaigners CONDEMNED for protesting council's antisemitism campaign". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  6. "Camden Tory leader intervenes in Islamophobic abuse". Metro. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  7. "'Shock and horror' as antisemitic graffiti daubed on London shops and synagogue". Sky News.
  8. Gibbons, Katie. "London synagogue and shops targeted in racist attack" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  9. Sheridan, Danielle (29 December 2019). "Police patrols increase at London synagogue in wake of New York stabbings after anti-Semitic graffiti daubed on shop fronts". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  10. Bowcott, Owen (29 December 2019). "London synagogue and shops targeted with antisemitic graffiti" – via www.theguardian.com.
  11. "Anti-Semitic graffiti daubed on shops and cafes". BBC News. 29 December 2019.
  12. Simpson, Craig (15 February 2022). "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? Author drawn into statue row as council reviews her memorial". The Telegraph.
  13. "Virginia Woolf's Bloomsbury bust put on racism list".
  14. Cooper, Oliver (28 July 2015). "Tories, don't vote for Jeremy Corbyn. It won't end well" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  15. Booth, Robert; Halliday, Josh (10 April 2015). "Labour and Tory top brass told to stay away by constituencies" – via www.theguardian.com.
  16. Fearn, Hannah (7 August 2014). "Council staff are not overpaid – far from it" – via www.theguardian.com.
  17. Fisher, Billy Kenber and Lucy. "Youth leader stood down after drug dealing threat" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  18. Reporter, Billy Kenber, Investigations. "Tories ignored claims of bullying in youth wing for a year, leaked emails reveal" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  19. Fisher, Billy Kenber and Lucy. "How ego trip led the Tories into crisis" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  20. Fisher, Billy Kenber and Lucy. "Youth leader stood down after drug dealing threat" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  21. "BBC Three - Free Speech, Series 2 - Oliver Cooper". BBC.
  22. Boniface, Michael (24 June 2020). "Alfresco summer dining plans for 100 outdoor tables will put Belsize Village 'on the map'". Hampstead Highgate Express. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  23. "We plan to relaunch the streatery on April 13". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  24. Rowlinson, Liz (3 March 2022). "Belsize Park's homebuyers stay for the long term". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  25. "The streatery has been amazing for Belsize Village". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  26. "Local government secretary Robert Jenrick: Get out there and don't waste the summer". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  27. Camden Council (2021). Camden Future High Streets. London Borough of Camden: Camden Council. p. 17.
  28. Boniface, Michael (16 July 2021). "Belsize Village streatery survey results revealed". Hampstead Highgate Express. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  29. "Al fresco dining to continue in Belsize Village as councillors make 'miracle' pandemic scheme permanent". Camden Citizen. 14 February 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
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