Children from the Sylvia Young Theatre School joined councillors and friends for the New Year’s Day fun

ACCORDING to the folk tale, Cinderella is left at home to toil while her sisters are free to join the party.

But the glass slipper was on the other foot when council leader Nickie Aiken, dressed as the story’s eponymous character, joined 500,000 people at the New Year’s Day parade.

The path had been cleared for her pumpkin coach by a team of 120 street sweepers, who worked through the night to clean up from the previous night’s celebrations.

Council leader Nickie (Cinderella) Aiken with James (Prince Charming) Cooksey of The Crown Estate

Cllr Aiken was joined by deputy leader Cllr Robert Davis, dressed as one of the ugly sisters, and children from the Sylvia Young Theatre School for their pantomime-themed entry into the pageant, which beat 15 other boroughs to first place. They won £10,000 for their chosen charities, Age UK Westminster; the Sir Simon Milton Foundation, which was set up in honour of former council leader and partner of Cllr Davis; and the Social Mobility Foundation.

Environment chief Cllr David Harvey said: “As always, it was a pleasure to welcome thousands of people to Westminster to enjoy new year.”