Tele’s Biography

Tele Lawal made history by becoming the youngest Councillor (aged 22) and the first-ever black-elected female in the London Borough of Havering, serving a term from 2018-2022. She’s also the former Parliamentary Candidate for Hornchurch and Upminster Constituency in the 2019 General Election. Her prior political portfolios include Crime and Disorder Committee, as well as the Children Services and Learning Committee. Leveraging her expertise, she held police advisory positions on the Independent Advisory Group and Stop & Search Monitoring Group (MOPAC initiatives) for three years. During her public office service, she worked in diverse sectors like UK Parliament, Capita, Metro Bank, and My Life My Say.

Tele is passionately committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In 2017, she founded Mbrace, a national bank’s race and ethnicity network with over 3,000 members, shaping diversity and inclusion across the bank. In 2018, she was appointed Havering Council’s Champion for Diversity and Inclusion. This led to the launch of Havering Racism in 2020, a social campaign resulting in a borough-wide review by the Local Government Association and a commitment by Havering Council’s Cabinet to reset its diversity and inclusion initiatives and policies. Before leaving politics, Tele contributed to the development of an action plan.

Tele has a wealth of experience in management consulting, having contributed to significant global technology programmes and projects. Her clients have included the UK Home Office, Shell, Network Rail, and Transport for London. In addition to her consulting career, she is passionate about fashion. After completing accelerator and incubator programmes with Soho House, Barclays, and Entertainment Week Lagos, she founded Kouture Paradisé, an e-commerce platform that highlights African brands, showcasing designs that combine traditional aesthetics with a contemporary edge. Tele also sits on the Creative Mentor Network Youth Board. In her spare time, she runs a Christian literature book club (Faith Book Club) enjoys writing, ballet, art and modelling.