Maryam Eslamdoust (Persian: مریم اسلام دوست) is a British-Iranian politician and trade union official. She was mayor of the London Borough of Camden from 2019 to 2021, and in 2023 was elected General Secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association. Eslamdoust was the first Iranian-born woman to be elected to public office in Great Britain.
From 2010 Eslamdoust served as an elected Labour Party councillor on the Camden London Borough Council for the ward of Kilburn. She focused her duties on overseeing stronger regulation on noise pollution, gambling premises, and strip clubs.[1][2][5] The latter issue resulted in a lengthy court battle between the council and Spearmint Rhino, due to a casting council vote made in her favour by Eslamdoust's husband, Thomas Gardiner, which was resolved in 2014 when the judge upheld the council decision.[6] Eslamdoust went on to be declared Deputy Mayor of Camden in 2018.[2]
In 2019 Eslamdoust was elected as Mayor for the London Borough of Camden, and was the first woman born in Iran to serve in public office in Great Britain. She attracted criticism due to the circa £11,000 cost of her inauguration ceremony. Eslamdoust served for 2 years in the role, raising money for domestic abuse charity Solace Women's Aid.[3][7][8][9]
In 2023 Eslamdoust succeeded Manuel Cortes to become General Secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA), a trade union focused on transport and travel in the United Kingdom and Ireland, being elected with 47% of the vote.[10] Cortes had previously left the TSSA pending an investigation into harassment.[11] It was reported that Eslamdoust was both the first woman, and the first person of colour, to be leader of the union through its 126-year history.[12][13] While representing the TSSA she has advocated for the keeping open of ticket offices in rail stations, a goal which is partly personal to achieve continued independent living for her blind and autistic brother.[14][15]
Eslamdoust has been reported as being politically aligned with Jeremy Corbyn, to the left wing of the UK Labour Party. In 2023 she was critical of the Labour leader Keir Starmer, particularly concerning his reluctance to call for a ceasefire on the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[15][16]
Personal life
Eslamdoust met her husband, Thomas Gardiner, while studying at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.[1] Gardiner similarly served as a Labour councillor for the Kilburn ward from 2010. Eslamdoust's son Xerxes was born in 2019, during her tenure as Mayor of Camden.[17]
