Islington has come a long way in the past ten years - according to the man who has a better view of the borough than almost anyone.
Charles Goodson-Wickes stepped down from the role of deputy lieutenant in November 2020 having hit the mandatory retirement age of 75. He took the role in 2011.
His final year was somewhat blighted by the pandemic but he is now ready and willing to reflect on a decade of service.
“They’ve kindly let me retain the status of a deputy lieutenant in a non-serving role,” he says, likening the continuing status to a US president leaving office.
His role was not quite as influential on a worldwide scale, but offered an almost unique look into the work being performed every day around the community.
Each London borough has a deputy lieutenant under the command of the lord lieutenant Kenneth Olisa - the monarch’s personal representative in each ‘lieutenancy’ area of the UK.
Mr Goodson-Wickes describes the role as "upholding the monarchy," being the "eyes and ears" for the Queen. It is a ceremonial role, but also a historic one dating back to Henry VIII’s time which, until the 20th century, put them at the head of local militia and allowed them to call for any able bodied man to fight when needed.
The role of deputy lieutenant is usually offered to retired notable public figures and, having been Conservative MP for Wimbledon from 1987-97, Mr Goodson-Wickes was besieged with offers.
“I held out, saying I had no connection to any of the boroughs being mentioned,” he said.
“But then Islington came up, so I said yes please. I was born in Islington, had a room in Islington as a medical student, bought a house in the borough and worked as a consultant physician for Bupa which at that time was in Battle Bridge Road.
“You can imagine why I had particular affection for the borough.”
Having served as a business consultant and a physician, Mr Goodson-Wickes unsuccessfully ran to become Islington Central MP in 1979. But he got another chance in the 1987 ballot and held his Wimbledon seat for ten years until the Labour landslide.
But in becoming deputy lieutenant, Mr Goodson-Wickes “took delight” in being entirely apolitical.
“I much more enjoyed it than being political,” he added. “It is fascinating in Islington - I knew [Labour Islington North MP] Jeremy Corbyn very well from the House of Commons. Neither of us would have anticipated we would both have ended up in Islington doing different roles.
“We have always had a very good relationship, which I will always value, and I think we respect each others’ viewpoints but we never discussed politics. We were both doing our best to serve the borough in our own ways.”
Islington has been "very conducive" for royal visits and the borough’s proximity to the City has allowed "more than a fair share" of family outings locally.
Mr Goodson-Wickes has kept a pinboard map to show all the times a royal visitor has been in town.
But it is the civic events that he has taken a particular pride in.
“I enjoyed the ceremonies and awards as well as the events linked in with the military - the Remembrance parade crowd grew every single year.
“I enjoyed the tasks enormously. Islington is full of charities doing great work and [with a background in charity work] it came to me naturally.
“The borough has a reputation for being a bit left of centre. But I learned it does not matter what peoples’ politics are, there are services ready to meet peoples’ needs and it was a pleasure to play a small part in encouraging them.”
But it has not been completely plain sailing. Mr Goodson-Wickes describes a "great frustration" in how the Royal Northern Hospital memorial was not restored during his tenure.
More positively, he instituted an initiative called The Ring - which anticipated the opening of the Elizabeth Line making Farringdon one of the major portals into London - by gathering local leaders to help preserve the area’s history and nature.
On how Islington has changed, he added: “It is an extraordinary borough as it has within it, very wealthy people and extremely deprived areas. I think the gap is narrowing but it is still very much there. That’s the kind of thing many politicians are working towards."
Perhaps one thing that has declined over the decade, though, is the form of Mr Goodson-Wickes’s beloved Arsenal FC - for whom he was a season ticket holder.
“We should never have let Aaron Ramsey go!” he says, laughing.
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