“I like solving problems”

Zoë Van Dyke was first elected as a Labour councillor to represent Strood North and Frindsbury on Medway Council in a by-election in 2021 and has been a member of the cabinet since 2023. Steven met her at Store 104 in Rochester, where they talked about mediation, her history in the Labour Party, and what role she might play in whatever council replaces Medway.

What is your official occupation?
I'm retired. If I go back, I was a social worker in a children and families team, but then I got elected as the Kent County Council branch secretary for NALGO, which evolved into UNISON. I was seconded into that role. I was a full-time trade union official for six years, following which I became employed by Unison.
I didn't become a Labour Party councillor until I retired. 

What is your role in the cabinet? 
I'm portfolio holder for Business Services. It's all the back-office functions, not the front-facing services to constituents.

What does that role entail? 
I have a first-class degree in law as well, and qualified as a barrister, so I suppose I fitted into that role because it was part of the portfolio. I've got property, legal services, HR.

Where were you born? 
West Hill Hospital in Dartford.

What brought you to Medway? 
I moved to Medway when I got divorced 30 years ago.

Why did you pick Medway?
Friends and family.

What did your parents do when you were growing up? 
My dad was an engineer. My dad was nine years older than my mom. My dad was involved in World War II. He was one of the first people to be deployed to France. He was a prisoner for five years in Poland at the end of the war. They had a forced march because the German army were terrified of the Russians. They headed off through the Czech mountains towards France to escape the Russians with their prisoners. They walked several hundred miles, and my dad kept a very detailed chronology of the entire experience, which is now at the Imperial War Museum. 

Did you enjoy school? 
Yeah, pretty much.

Did you stay for sixth form?
I started sixth form, and then I left, which was probably unwise. But then I went into higher education later.

Why did you leave?
Because I left home. I didn't get on with my mum. I got on well with my dad but not my mum. 

Did you go into employment? What was your first full-time job?
Yeah. I worked for the tax office as a tax officer, and then I worked for what I thought was a commercial company in London, which turned out to be a front for a brothel, and I left. Then I got married, and I had children. What did I do next? I worked for an advice organisation. After that, I did a social work degree, and then I became a social worker and a full-time trade union official.

A long time ago, I was a member of the Socialist Workers Party

Have you ever been a member of any other party? 
A long time ago, I was a member of the Socialist Workers Party. None of the mainstream parties. 

Are you a member of the Labour Party or the Labour and Co-operative Party?
Labour and Co-operative Party. I always forget that bit.

When did you join the Socialist Workers’ Party? 
Back in the seventies. To be honest, I haven't really thought about it much. I joined the Labour Party in 2019. 
There was a period of time when I was involved in another party, which I was invited to join by Arthur Scargill. I did a lot of driving, and I chauffeured him around the country.

Which party was that? 
It was the Socialist Labour Party. I got involved through having close ties with the National Union of Miners, but it unravelled quickly.

Why did you join the Labour Party in 2019? 
It seemed the right thing to do. I was already a Labour Party member by then, but because I was working as a trade union official, I was so busy that I didn't get particularly actively involved until the elections came up and I was elected. 

With your background, were you on the more pro-Corbyn side of the party? 
I wouldn't say so. Not Corbyn, the people I was affiliated with, like Bob Crow, I knew very well. I actually don't really like Jeremy Corbyn. I find him not particularly friendly. It was such a shame that John Smith passed away. I was never a Blair supporter.

When was your name first on a ballot?
Well, I was a member of the Labour Party before, way back when my kids were very young. Then I became more involved in trade unions and not so much the political. I was a trade union activist, although I was a social worker. I became the branch secretary of NALGO, which then joined with other unions such as NUPE and COHSE to form UNISON. I undertook that role for several years until I took up employment as a Regional Organiser in UNISON in 1997. Within weeks following my appointment, I found myself dealing with the Kent Air Ambulance crash, which took the lives of the three crew members.