Tribute speeches were paid to Labour councillor Dr Aysha Raza at Ealing Council’s full council meeting on Tuesday (3 March 2026) following her death last month.
Councillor Raza, who represented Central Greenford, was described by colleagues as a tireless campaigner for residents and public services.
First elected in 2014, she served the ward for more than a decade. Councillor Raza grew up in Greenford and attended Oldfield and Coston Primary schools, a local connection that friends said shaped her commitment to the area.
Between 2021 and 2023 she served as cabinet member for tackling crime and inequality, becoming Ealing Council’s first Muslim woman cabinet member.
As well as being a trustee of the Young Ealing Foundation, Raza was active in a number of community organisations across the borough, including the Ealing Wildlife Group, the Holy Cross Players and the Royal British Legion. She also served as a governor at Stanhope Primary School and William Perkin High School.
There were tribute speeches from Councillor Ben Wesson, Councillor Dee Martin, Councillor Gary Malcolm, leader of Ealing Liberal Democrats and Councillor Julian Gallant, leader of Ealing Conservatives.
Councillor Dee Martin (Northolt West End) said:
“It’s with incredible sadness that I rise to pay tribute to such a dear friend and colleague as Cllr Dr Aysha Raza.
“Firstly I want to express my profound condolences to all of Aysha’s councillor and council colleagues, her many friends and most of all her family who she deeply loved and who I know are heartbroken by her loss.
“We first met around 2010 when I was just becoming active in the Labour party and Aysha was already using her boundless energy to revitalise her local branch in Pitshanger, in forming the Ealing Women’s Labour group and in supporting the Ealing Save our NHS campaign. Her passion and determination to promote and support countless causes and organisations never wavered over the intervening years.
“I suspect that her legacy will live on most within the many groups she became an integral part of. There are too many to name, but some of her particular favourites included the Ealing Wildlife Group, the Young Ealing Foundation, the NHS campaign and the Holy Cross Players, whose panto she took great pleasure performing in each year.
“We became councillors together in 2014 and Aysha immediately flourished as a ward councillor for Central Greenford, carrying out her role with untiring dedication. She joined in with so many things that she quickly became embedded there. As well as becoming a regular visitor to the Royal British Legion, an advocate for the local scouts, and of course bringing beavers back to Ealing, she was also a governor at Stanhope and William Perkin schools, the latter named after the man who invented her favourite colour, purple.
“She was forever promoting Greenford and I will fondly remember her cry of ‘That’s a Greenford goal’ whenever Greenford-raised Bukayo Saka scored for England.
“She always went the extra mile, sometimes quite literally, taking part in the NHS Jarrow to London march in 2014 and in making regular trips to the refugee camps in Calais.
“In 2021 Aysha became Cabinet Member for Tackling Crime and Inequalities, becoming Ealing’s first Muslim woman cabinet member. It was a role to which she brought her many innate abilities and her deeply felt, lifelong commitment to inclusivity and social justice. She was also committed to supporting people of all faiths and of none, and of celebrating unity and respecting our differences.
“I think we all know that Aysha was a people person. She also had a great ability to inspire, and to transfer some of her own enthusiasm, generosity and hopeful spirit to others. if there was a way to help others, she found it. If there was a way to give a voice to others, she found that too.
“For me, I will remember her most for her great sense of humour, her boundless capacity for friendship and her deep care for others. She enriched so many peoples lives.
“I would like to end by saying how deeply grateful and privileged I feel to have had Aysha as a friend. It was a truly special gift to have known her and like so many of the people whose lives she touched I will treasure her memory forever more.”
Councillor Ben Wesson (Pitshanger ward) said:
“I want to talk to you about our friend, Cllr Dr Aysha Raza.
“Aysha was remarkable – a brain scientist with a PhD who combined intellectual rigour with warmth and approachability.
“I first met Aysha when we served together as governors at Stanhope Primary School between 2021 and 2023. She was already an experienced councillor, and I immediately admired her ability to bring people together and her deep commitment to the community.
“What moved me most was her generosity. Aysha didn’t just serve – she encouraged others to serve too. She encouraged me to stand as a councillor and supported me every step of the way. Her instinct was always to lift others up.
“Before I moved to West London, I saw her marching through Northampton with the Jarrow campaigners to Save Our NHS. Aysha didn’t just talk about justice – she walked for it and later played a leading role in the Save Ealing Hospital campaign, working tirelessly with residents and colleagues to defend local healthcare.
“Community was not a slogan for Aysha; it was a daily practice. She never wasted a day, often visiting several community groups in one afternoon, listening and amplifying unheard voices. She gave her time generously across Ealing as a governor, volunteer and champion for young people and local organisations, because she believed people matter.
“Her appointment as Ealing’s first Muslim woman Cabinet Member was historic, but she carried it with humility, using her platform to challenge inequality and widen opportunity.
“On the campaign trail she was unstoppable – lift selfies, campaign leaflets in hand, laughter carrying us through long days. Politics, for Aysha, was always about people.
“Outside public life, a deep friendship grew between Aysha, Dee Martin and me. We shared quizzes, National Trust visits, gardening conversations and simple pizza nights with Hitesh Tailor – full of laughter and easy companionship. At garden centres, where others saw struggling plants, Aysha saw possibility and usually brought them back to life.
“She loved her micro-allotment and small acts of kindness, like the stollen she brought my family each year from Horsenden Hill, carefully labelled “The Wessons.”
“I also had the privilege of being her councillor in Pitshanger Ward, something she proudly told people – even as I occasionally received complaints about gridlock outside her house.
“Her sudden passing after a brain stem event feels profoundly unfair. There was so much more she planned to do.
“But if we measure life by impact rather than years, Aysha’s life was abundant.
“Today we hold close her beloved Mama Raza, Adil and Saira. Thank you for sharing her with us.
“I will miss Aysha every day. But I will carry forward her example: never waste a day, show up for others, nurture what matters, and always believe in growth.
“Rest in peace, Aysha. Your friendship was a gift. Your service was a legacy. You will always be remembered.”
Gary Malcolm, leader of Ealing Liberal Democrats, said:
“The news of Cllr Dr Aysha Raza was truly shocking when we heard the news. She was a warm and friendly person, and I recall her passion for some of the campaigns which has been mentioned.
“The NHS, the flora and fauna around the borough and the equality issues. She spoke to so many community groups and spoke to people from all political parties.
“Her constituents will certainly miss her and I have read many thoughts of her from residents in Greenford and they miss her. She delivered a lot of impact locally and was taken away too soon.
“The Lib Dem group we pass on condolences to the Labour Group, her friends and family.”
Julian Gallant, leader of Ealing Conservatives, said:
“On behalf of all of us in the Conservative group and in the room I can only mirror condolences from Dee, Ben and Gary and offer my heartfelt best wishes to Aysha Raza’s family.
“By the time I got elected in 2021 Aysha Raza had already been a councillor in Greenford for seven years. So she was a real example to me in how to deal with communities and, strangely, with other parties.
“I saw her reaching out to the Hong Kong community and I worked with her on the board of the Southwest Middlesex Crematorium. That’s a strangely peaceful and wonderful place and Aysha put a lot of effort into her chairmanship. I’ve got an abiding memory of Aysha showing me a nest built by a family of kestrels.
“Life is precious and fragile. It’s true. None knew that better than Aysha. That is why she brought such value, respect and love wherever she went.
“I shall never forget her example.
“I shall never forget her.”
Councillors also observed a moment of reflection in her memory before continuing with the evening’s agenda.
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