Four former Labour councillors have been awarded titles of honorary Aldermen and Alderwomen of Lewisham for their exceptional contribution.

The honorary title of Alderman, Alderwoman or Alder is a title available to former Lewisham councillors who in the opinion of the council, rendered eminent, exceptional, and distinguished services to the Council and the community, above such duties as are expected of a councillor.  

 At a meeting on 15th May 2024, the Council conferred aldermanic titles to:  

Mee Ling Ng who represented the Evelyn area for 4 terms between 1986 and 2002 and served as Deputy Leader. She has contributed greatly and continues to contribute to Lewisham Communities. Part of her legacy is her support of the Lewisham Indochinese Centre in Deptford ward, which is one of the very few and possibly the largest bilingual Chinese-English nursery as well as having elder care and youth activities. She also supported the Vietnamese Family Partnership in Evelyn ward which is currently undertaking work to commemorate ESEA heritage across Deptford. 

Obajimi Adefiranye was first elected a Lewisham Councillor in 1990 – the first African on the Council and he served for 28 years. During that time, he was Chair (Civic Mayor) of the Council for 7 years. Naturally, he also served competently and effectively on several Council committees, chairing several of them. He was a Lewisham Schools/College governor for over four decades and he represented Lewisham Council on the Deptford Challenge Trust, in addition to being Council’s nominee to several external bodies including the ALG, Albany Theatre; Lewisham Parochial Charities, Lewisham Law Centre, Citizens Advice Bureau, Lewisham Race Equality Council, Community Health Council and the Local Authorities Working Party on South Africa. As Chair of the Race Committee, he initiated the Council’s first participation in Black History Month. He served as the Chair of the National Association of Black, Asian & Ethnic Minority Councillors for many years during his time on the Council and continues to hold this position to this day. Obajimi was the London Borough of Lewisham’s Delegate on the Intercultural Cities (ICC), a Council of Europe-funded body with membership from various continents for a few years.  

Jim Mallory was first elected in 1986 and was Lewisham a councillor for 28 years, representing Grinling Gibbons in Deptford for 16 years and Lee Green for 12 years. From 1995 to 1998 he was Leader of the Council. At the Town Hall he was an innovative and effective Committee Chair, who oversaw and led work as diverse as introducing wheelie bins to the borough – the first Council in England to adopt them – to helping Lewisham schools adapt to life and fewer resources under the Council after the abolition of the Inner London Education Authority. As Leader he worked to widen the support for and influence of the community and voluntary sectors, and later went on to help create local assemblies as a member of Mayor Steve Bullock’s sustainable communities’ commission. In the community he has been a committed activist, joining and founding many organisations, most notably as founding Chair (2010-22) of Lee Green Lives, which runs a community centre and supports other local groups.  

Stella Jeffrey represented Lewisham Central for two terms between 2010 and 2018. Along with being an exceptional councillor, Stella Jeffrey has been a phenomenal leader locally not only in Lewisham Central but also in her home ward of Ladywell. She is Chair of the St Marys Parochial Charitable Board. Former Director of Lewisham Youth Theatre. Stella is active in the St Mary’s church community and choral group, who perform at civic events. Stella is also an active and supportive member of the Positive Aging Council. Stella has dedicated herself to helping the most vulnerable in Lewisham consistently over many years, she has sat as a trustee for a number of charities, including Lewisham Relief in Need Charity, The London Churches Fund for Destitute Asylum Seekers, Lewisham General Trust Charity, Lewisham Almshouse Charity of John Thackeray, Lewisham Educational Charity and Lewisham Churches for Asylum Seekers, to name just a few.