Former Southwark Council councillor and cabinet member Fiona Colley has been named as Lewisham Council’s new £100k assistant director of communications and strategy.

Ms Colley, a former Labour councillor, was chosen by an appointment panel from a pool of 45 applicants, a Lewisham Council spokesperson said.

She will be in charge of running the council website, producing the council’s quarterly magazine, running campaigns and responding to the media.

The council spokesperson said Ms Colley “brings a wealth of experience across both the public and private sectors.”

She stood down from Southwark Council after eight years as a councillor and cabinet member in May last year, where she was paid an allowance of £46,000.

Her portfolios at Southwark Council included finance, modernisation and performance, and regeneration and corporate strategy.

Her most recent work includes nine months as a local government consultant, providing advice and insight for companies and not-for-profit organisations.

Previous roles also include work as a researcher for the Labour group at the Greater London Authority.

The Lewisham Council spokesperson said: “There were forty-five applicants. Five candidates were long-listed. External testing was conducted on these individuals and they were interviewed by senior officers. Three candidates were shortlisted by the senior officer interview panel. These three shortlisted candidates were interviewed by the members appointments committee, who made the decision to appoint Fiona Colley.”

According to the job posting, the assistant director for strategy and communications is a “new role to support the Mayor in realising his ambitions for the borough.”

The job also encompasses the currently-vacant head of strategy, which has responsibility for the communications functions at the council.

Ms Colley ran for parliament in 2017 in Surrey.

A Lewisham Council spokesperson said the salary was in line with industry standards.