Eleanor Kelly, the former Southwark Council chief executive has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to local government.
She led responses to the 2017 London Bridge Terror Attack and Grenfell Fire and worked with Southwark Council Leader Peter John to implement a range of reforms and policies.
Ms Kelly rose through the Southwark ranks having joined as interim deputy chief executive in 2006 and being appointed chief executive in 2012. She retired in 2021.
In post, she helped implement dramatic policies around regeneration, school improvement, apprenticeships and skills training, free healthy schools meals and gym membership.
Ms Kelly said 2017, which saw both Grenfell and the London Bridge Terror Attack, was one of the most traumatic for London councils she had witnessed.
When Grenfell took place, she was among nine chief executives and 600 staff drafted in from other London boroughs to help with the recovery operation – dubbed Gold Command.
The 2017 London Bridge Attack, in which eleven were killed and 48 injured, was also a pivotal moment in her tenure.
Later that year, Ms Kelly told the Local Government Chronicle it was “surprising” how handling a traumatic event “hits you”.
“They are not robots. For most of us [officers] you do have to sit down before you fall down because it does take that toll,” she said.
Michael Scorer, the Strategic Director of Housing and Modernisation, praised her “remarkable leadership when she retired in 2021.
“It’s just a shame she’s retiring. She’s got this remarkable ability to steer rather than row and she’s steered us through difficult things,” he said.
“We always knew she had her hand on the tiller. Sometimes it was light, sometimes a little firmer.”