Awale Olad has been a councillor for 15 years

LABOUR organisers were this week trying to convince a long-serving councillor to change his mind after he announced he will step down at the next elections.

In a letter to the party explaining his intentions, Awale Olad said he had been left exhausted by queues of distressed constituents every time he left his home.

He described this life as “frantic, demanding and ultimately unsustainable”, adding: “My inbox fills up every morning with very difficult cases, mostly concerning repairs… “I find myself engaged in a sort of tragic farce, endlessly pursuing the same missed repair appointments, often dealing with miserable residents at the end of their tether. For the past two years, a determined squadron of leaseholders from the Bourne Estate has shown up to every advice surgery three times a month without fail; they continue to attend every single session.”

He added: “I believe at one point I wrote to a senior officer that ‘I was losing the will to live,’ because councillors were left with the task of placating these very angry leaseholders and, I am sorry to say, because it is also a signpost of deeper structural fatigue.”

The letter ­– seen by the New Journal ­– included a list of achievements, including new housing on the Bourne Estate. He has been an active councillor as the chair of the culture and environment scrutiny committee, which saw him grill Camden police on its treatment of young black men, TfL on sauna-hot buses and hire bike company Lime over blocked pavements.

But Cllr Olad also expressed his disappointment that he had been the only Labour councillor to comment on the bombing of Gaza and Israel’s blockade on aid, which was criticised by foreign secretary David Lammy this week.

He said: “In the face of the tragic events unfolding in Gaza, I alone stood up and spoke out against the horrifying situation. What we are witnessing is nothing short of devastating: an unrelenting onslaught by Israel against a small and beleaguered enclave.

“The sheer scale of suffering, with children being slaughtered daily, is appalling. What is perhaps even more shocking is that I was the sole voice in the chamber prepared to call this out for what it is. This is a moral failure we cannot ignore.”

Cllr Olad’s departure will trigger a scramble for the election candidacy in his ward

While Labour are clearly more vulnerable to losing seats in some parts of the borough, Cllr Olad cannot be accused of leaving because he felt at risk of being defeated in Holborn and Covent Garden – the most southern ward which has been a solid safe seat and where he is a well-known local resident.

His four-page message to the party made special thanks to ward colleagues Julian Fulbrook and Sue Vincent, the latter of whom is also expected to end her long service in the council chamber next May.

It also praised the late MP Frank Dobson for being an inspiration, but made only brief mention of Sir Keir Starmer.

The golden seats

AWALE Olad’s departure from the council after 15 years alongside his long-serving wardmate Sue Vincent is likely to spark a scramble among Labour members wanting to follow in their footsteps.

The Holborn and Covent Garden is expected to be one of Labour’s safest wards even in more challenging electoral conditions at the boroughwide elections next May. Put more simply, if you get selected as a candidate here, you are more or less guaranteed a seat in the Town Hall.

Such favourable conditions might even be attractive to sitting Labour councillors wanting to “chicken run” ­– as it is often known– away from ballot box dangers.