Page "John McDonnell (politician)" Paragraph 3

In 1981, McDonnell was elected to the Greater London Council ( GLC ) as a member for Hayes and Harlington.

He became the Chair of Finance, responsible for the Greater London Council's budget, and was Ken Livingstone's deputy leader.

In an interview with Ronan Bennett for The Guardian newspaper, he described his role during this time as being " to translate policies into concrete realities on the ground.

" He further discussed his performance by indicating, " I was a fairly hard-nosed administrator.

We set in train policies for which we were attacked from all sides but are now accepted as mainstream: large-scale investment in public services ; raising the issue of Ireland and arguing for a dialogue for peace ; equal opportunities ; police accountability.

We set up a women's committee, an ethnic minorities committee ".