Cllr James Craig
Originally from Blackpool, James has been a local resident in South Battersea since 2022, settling originally on Webb's Road before moving to the northern edge of Balham. He first became a councillor for Northcote at the May 2026 election.
Since joining the council, James has been appointed the Deputy Chair of the Planning Committee, where he assists in the monthly programme of meetings, liaising with officers, fellow councillors, community stakeholders, and developers, in order to get Wandsworth building again. He has also been made a member of the Joint Pensions Committee, where he holds a fiduciary duty to oversee the management of the pensions of current and former council staff.
In his day job, James works in Westminster for two MPs, including as an advisor to the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He previously worked as a Press Officer for the Conservative Party.
Having served two years as the Deputy Chairman with responsibility for organising the successful election campaign in Battersea for the 2026 local elections, he has now become the Chairman of the Battersea Conservatives.
Cllr Aled Richards-Jones
Aled has been a Northcote councillor since 2018. Having lived locally for more than a decade, he is passionate about Northcote and the wider Wandsworth community.
Alongside his council work, Aled is a Governor of Ark Bolingbroke Academy, a member of the Friends of Wandsworth Common, and a former adviser to the Clapham Junction Business Improvement District, supporting local businesses across Northcote and Clapham Junction.
During his time on Wandsworth Council, Aled has held a number of senior roles in both administration and opposition. As Cabinet Member for Economic Development, he led a programme of high street pedestrianisation, introduced grant schemes to support local businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, and reformed the Council’s adult skills and lifelong learning services to place a greater focus on essential skills such as literacy and numeracy.
He later served as Cabinet Member for Communications, where he modernised the way the Council engages and communicates with residents. Most recently, Aled was Leader of the Conservative Group, serving as Leader of the Opposition for two years and leading the Conservatives to win the largest number of council seats at the May 2026 elections. Following the election, he served an initial period as Leader of the Council, establishing a minority Conservative administration through a ‘confidence and supply agreement’ with the Council’s independent councillor and overseeing the implementation of an immediate programme of financial recovery and governance reform.
Outside local government, Aled is a English and Irish-qualified barrister and a partner at a City law firm, specialising in intellectual property and technology law.
