Nicholas Paget-Brown, the head of Kensington Council, has resigned saying that he had to accept ‘a share responsibility’ for the failings of Kensington and Chelsea Borough Councils in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.
Mr. Paget-Brown has stepped down ahead of an inquiry into the blaze that killed at least 80 people inside Grenfell Tower on June 14 last. It is now known that the fire began on a faulty fridge freezer and quickly spread, largely due to the flammable nature of the materials used in the building’s external cladding.
There has been a large, and sometimes violent, public backlash in the aftermath of the tragedy, with many citizens blaming the building’s management company for ignoring fire safety concerns raised in the past.
The announcement by Mr. Paget-Brown follows another development, in which the head of Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) confirmed that he was stepping aside to ‘assist with the investigation.’