Margot Dunn

WHETHER riding through the borough on her tricycle or presiding over council meetings with characteristic fairness and good humour, Margot Dunn was as recognisable on the streets of Islington as she was at the Town Hall.

The former Liberal Democrat councillor and Islington Mayor, who has died aged 95, was a stalwart of community politics, whose mode of campaigning was not just to hand out leaflets, but cheerfully walk into residents’ hallways and stick the party’s diamond in the window herself.

“There are politicians who leave their mark through high office, and there are those who leave it through thousands of small acts of kindness. Margot Dunn belonged firmly in the second camp,” said former Lib Dem councillor Laura Willoughby MBE, who was Margot’s colleague at the Town Hall for over a decade.

“She was very formidable and forthright, and always spoke her mind. Anyone who met Margot would know that when she saw a resident had a problem, she wouldn’t let go until she’d sorted it out.

“She would always give her time and listen, and was very community orientated – even when she was no longer on the council she would still dedicate her time to helping people sort out their problems. She worked tirelessly on behalf of local people.”

Born in 1930 in Whitechapel, Margot went to school in Bow before studying secretarial and general studies at what is now Middlesex University.

She moved to Islington in 1965, and topped the polls when she was elected as a councillor for Holloway ward in 1994, an area where she went on to serve for 12 years.

At the Town Hall, Margot acted as Islington’s first Older People’s Champion, and was immensely proud to be mayor from in 2002 to 2003 when she would arrive to every event in her red mayoral robes, hands adorned with gem-laden rings that were handmade by a close friend.

She was well-respected across the political spectrum, and also devoted countless hours to public service beyond the Town Hall, including as a school governor and later a governor of the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust.

Former Islington Council leader Terry Stacy OBE said: “Margot Dunn was an Islington legend, one of a kind, and inspirational to so many people. If there was a local equivalent of a national treasure, that was Margot.”

And even years after leaving formal politics, people still recognised her.

Margot Dunn during her time as the Mayor of Islington

Ms Willoughby told of a moment in 2022, while Margot was waiting for a Covid vaccination, and a stranger crossed the room simply to shake her hand and thank her for finding him somewhere to live.

“Few tributes say more about a councillor’s legacy than that,” Ms Willoughby said.

Margot was also a strong advocate for her daughter, Jane, who suffered from a lifelong condition and predeceased her.

Her second husband, John, was the “star of her life” until his untimely death.

“She never ever forgot him and would so often speak of him,” Ms Willoughby told the Tribune.

Margot was also a keen sewer who made all of her own clothes, and for many years her spare room was the location of the local party risograph, where she would spend hours cutting out artwork and churning out campaign leaflets on the machine.

Even in later life, when Margot was cared for by her grandson Isaac, her love of general knowledge, crosswords and word games remained.

“She will be remembered as a formidable campaigner, but she was also a warm, kind, open and affectionate person. She cared for her friends deeply and openly and I think brought the same warmth and attention to residents, and often with humour as much as kindness and caring,” said Ms Willoughby.

There will be a celebration of Margot’s life at Islington Crematorium, East Finchley, on August 10 at 2pm with a loud and colourful dress code.