Sam King MBE is the founder of Notting Hill Carnival and also the first Black to become the mayor of Southwark in 1983.

Sam King was born in Jamaica in 1926 to join the RAF in 1944 and was stationed in Britain. He return to Jamaica after being demobilised. On arrival he met a country whose economy was in shambles.
Being unemployed, he decided to return to UK, he returned to the Air Force.
He retired from the Services in 1953 and began a 34 year career in the Post Office at the same time, was a very active campaigner within the community. Then became councillor for Southwark and was later elected Mayor of the borough in 1983.

As well as being the first Black Mayor of Southwark, Veteran Sam King, was notable for founding the famous Notting Hill Carnival and was also a driving force behind Britain’s first black newspaper, the West Indian Gazette.
Sam King was met with severe hostility when he wanted to buy his first house in Camberwell, which prompted him to set up a ‘partner’ house buying scheme, influenced by a similar scheme he had experience of in Jamaica.