Damien Egan


Damien Egan is a British Labour Party politician, and the second directly elected Mayor of Lewisham in Greater London. He won the May 2018 mayoral election, having previously been a borough councillor for the Lewisham Central ward.

Early life

Egan was born in Cork, Ireland, and raised in Bristol. During his childhood, his family were homeless on two occasions. He later studied at St Mary's Twickenham, and moved to Lewisham after his graduation. He has described his family as "cultural Catholics"; as an adult, he converted to Judaism.

Political career

At the 2005 general election Egan came third as the Labour candidate in Weston-super-Mare. At the 2010 general election he was the party's candidate in Beckenham, where he again finished third behind the Conservative and Liberal Democrats candidates.

Mayor of Lewisham

As a mayor, Egan has committed to deliver 1000 new social homes and double the number of Living Wage employers in the borough. In January 2019, he launched London's first indoor sleeping pods for homeless people in the emergency night shelter.