Sadiq Khan's frequent flyers club

Meet £147,770-per-year Felicity Appleby, London's Mayoral Director, Political and Public Affairs

Readers of my Substack know that I like to keep track of Sadiq Khan’s A Team.

Not always easy as the “the more the merrier” seems to be the Mayor’s attitude to hiring. Why have one deputy mayor when you could have nine, after all? (Never mind two chiefs of staff, three mayoral directors and six employees deemed “special appointments”).

Talking of Mayoral Directors, today I thought I’d introduce readers to the great taxpayer-funded talent that is Felicity Appleby, Mayoral Director, Political and Public Affairs, paid £147,770-per-year:

You can see some of her job purpose below - a lot of which involves managing local government and stakeholder relationships across London:

Appleby was previously Global Head of Outreach at the United Nations in New York - a city she has been able to stay connected to due to the “International Relations” part of her current job.

Appleby is often needed in other parts of the world, reflected in her expenses for 2022-23 (the last dates available) - her flight bill standing at £1,672.80:

The expenses add up to £4,492.06 in total, mainly spent on hotels, dining and trains.

I particularly like this note - “Taxi - due to time constraints”:

The trip in question only cost £5.97 so it can’t have been particularly long. Maybe one that could have been walked in under 25 minutes, or cycled in under 20. Isn’t that what the Major would say? (who tweeted this in Jan 2022):

Appleby’s taxi expenses are very little, though, compared to Justine Simons OBE, London’s Deputy Mayor for Culture - who’s taken tens around London. Essential travel, I suppose, for someone attending events such as the “Chanel diversity dinner at NPG”:

Simon’s presence has also been required on the world stage. A flight to summit in Brazil accounted for £3,646.97 of her £4,637.26 total travel expenses in 2023-24.

Then there’s Mete Coban MBE, Khan’s new environment advisor, who clocked up around 40,000 air miles when he was Hackney’s Cabinet Member for the Environment:

Never mind Amy Lamé, the Night Czar (£132,846), who in February The Mail revealed had “taken at least 12 foreign jaunts as part of her Night Tsar role since 2017 - with a significant gap because of the pandemic.”

Khan himself is no stranger to the old global summit:

The Mail has previously reported that the taxpayer-funded luxury 2020 Range Rover he takes around town is exempt from ULEZ.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Mayor’s team copes on 20-22 of this month when it’s World Car Free Day (even though 20-22 is two days), as London’s Walking and Cycling Czar Will Norman has made clear:

I guess the important thing to remember is that when Khan’s team pollute, it’s different.

But when you do it you’re killing children’s lungs and the planet.