For the second time this month, London City Councillors have appointed a new colleague.
Mariam Hamou will likely serve as the next Ward 6 councillor, following the surprise resignation of Phil Squire last month.
Hamou edged out former Ward 6 councillor Nancy Bransombe in a close 8-6 vote at the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee (SPPC) meeting held on Monday.
Her appointment will have to be approved by full council on Tuesday afternoon. In the likely event that happens, Hamou will become the first Muslim woman to ever serve on London City Council.
The vote at the SPPC meeting took three rounds. There were 20 candidates who put their names forward, but only three received votes. Hamou, Branscombe and 2018 Ward 6 runner-up Mike Bloxam.
In round one, Mayor Ed Holder, Deputy Mayor Josh Morgan, and councillors Shawn Lewis, Mo Salih, Steve Lehman, Paul Van Meerbergen and Steve Hillier voted for Hamou. Councillors Michael van Holst, Jesse Helmer, Maureen Cassidy, Anna Hopkins, Stephen Turner and Elizabeth Peloza voted for Branscombe, while Councillor John-Fyfe Millar voted for Bloxam.
After Bloxam dropped off the ballot, Fyfe-Millar voted for Branscombe, leaving council deadlocked at 7-7. If the next vote had the same result, council would have "drawn lots"
"If the determination is that this be a tie vote, that we will have the two names put into, looks like a scotch glass there, one clerk will put those names in, the other clerk will draw, and will announce the names acordingly," Mayor Ed Holder said during the meeting.
Saying he wanted to avoid that scenario, van Holst declared he would switch his vote to Hamou.
"I prefer that a candidate not be chosen by lot, I'm very grateful for [Branscombe] to put her name forward, I think she would have done a wonderful job for the ward," van Holst said. "As my preference is a selection not be drawn by lot, I would change my vote [to Hamou], believing that both these candidates, along with many other, would do an excellent job]"
Branscombe was the Ward 6 councillor from 2006-2014.
van Holst switching his vote meant Hamou was appointed by the committee by the 8-6 vote on the final ballot.
The appointment will have to be confirmed by council. Hamou would then be sworn in as soon as possible.
Hamou, a mother of two, says she's lived in Ward 6 for 30 years. She's on the London Public Library Board and is an active volunteer at the London Muslim Mosque. She also said in her application that she will seek re-election in next year's municipal vote.
She will be a guest on Friday's edition of The Craig Needles Podcast.