Polly Cziok has worked in public relations in London local government for more than 20 years. She currently works as an Executive Director at the London Borough of Merton but spent much of her career at the London Borough of Hackney, where she was part of the team that took Hackney from being one of the worst local authorities in the UK to one of the best and led the transformation of the reputation of the council and the place. She previously led the CIPR Local Public Services Group as Chair and Vice Chair and also played a role on the LGComms Executive Committee. She is committed to excellence in public service communications and regularly undertakes mentoring, and gives time to the development of other PR professionals, and emerging public service leaders. She has also been a champion for diversity in the PR industry. Polly led the Londonwide communications campaign in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘Keep London Safe’ across the 32 boroughs, and has continued to make a contribution to communications leadership in London. Polly began her career supporting Labour politicians in the House of Commons and in local government.
