What type of person waves the flag for a council with a glittering housing record while influencing regeneration politics at the highest levels? How about an outspoken former ballerina, union rep and legal aid solicitor – someone like Dame Sally Powell, for instance?
If anything is likely to spark an indignant response in Dame Sally Powell it is, surprisingly, the suggestion that Hammersmith & Fulham council, where she is deputy for regeneration, has one of the capital's best track records on providing affordable housing. "Let me just stop you right there," she asserts. "This borough doesn't have one of the best track records in London. It has the best record in London."

Settling back in her chair as if to tell a good story, Dame Sally is fully at home in her role as cheerleader for the borough and flag-waver for the affordable housing policy she directs there. She is also, among other roles, a member of the London Development Agency board, deputy chair of the Association of London Government, deputy leader of the Labour group on the Local Government Association, and has a role in Europe as president of a commission on urban and planning issues linked to the Committee of the Regions. A solicitor who knows how to put her case persuasively and an ex-ballet dancer who still knows how to hold an audience's attention, she's as outspoken in criticising the flaws in the system as she is praising the success stories.

With debate still rife on London mayor Ken Livingston's draft London plan and affordable housing targets of up to 50%, many eyes have been on how the west London borough of Hammersmith & Fulham managed to exceed this level. The latest figures show that 51.6% of new housing in the area was affordable, compared to the London average of 14%. It has also been singled out by the Housing Corporation and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister as "well above average" in its affordable housing development scheme.

There are several reasons why Hammersmith & Fulham has stayed ahead of the game, says Dame Sally. First, "the strongest affordable housing policy, spelled out in our unitary development plan, of virtually any local authority in the country." Second, the horizontal officer working group set up 12 years ago, spanning the in-house legal, planning, valuation and housing departments. Third, being one of the first local authorities to streamline uncoordinated funding bids to the Housing Corporation. "We cut out a lot of wasted effort," says Dame Sally. All that achievement is in spite of being a geographically small borough with limited land availability.

The issue of delivering affordable housing in an affluent area, where many residents' idea of a housing crisis is a leaking roof on the weekend cottage in the Cotswolds, is close to Powell's heart. "We've managed it to date," says Dame Sally, "but we need the government to understand that to continue, they have got to increase resources. Otherwise, they may create the number of units they want, but most will be in low-value areas, which will lead to unbalanced communities. It's not just about numbers." She's concerned that the comprehensive spending review's shot in the arm for housing investment will allow the government to "play the numbers game" without addressing all facets of housing need for different sections of the community. "We mustn't create the 21st-century equivalent of sink estates and high-rise developments."

This borough doesn’t have one of the best track records in London, it has the best record in London

Another undercurrent of criticism is reserved for Livingstone and the Greater London Authority in relation to the London plan's 50% threshold. From the viewpoint of Hammersmith town hall, this imposes a ceiling above which developers will refuse to budge. "I think 50% should be a minimum, and boroughs left with the flexibility to exceed that in negotiations with developers."

Dame Sally likes the way her position in the local government circle of London Labour politics means she is taken seriously, but retains the freedom to speak her mind. She is no stranger to life in the Westminster circle – she is married to Hammersmith & Fulham MP Iain Coleman, although she is wary of people making too much of the connection: "I'm an independent person and he's an independent person", she stresses.

There's still something of the performer about her and she even detects a continuity between ballet and politics: "My golden rule is that I don't take on a responsibility unless I can give it 100%. It's down to the discipline of being a dancer. If people have paid to see you, you have to give them 110% every show. You can't do the matinee at half speed, or dance on a Saturday night as if you want to go home."

A commitment to social justice has spanned her varied career. As a rep for showbusiness union Equity, she led fellow dancers out on their first recorded strike. Later, she worked as a legal aid solicitor in south-east London. She continued legal practice and politics in parallel – "I brought a lot from the public sector into the private sector, and grass-roots experience of dealing with cases on the ground" – until after her son Jack arrived five years ago.

Dame Sally Powell

Age 46
Family Married with one son
Education Royal Ballet’s White Lodge School, University of Southampton.
Career Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet Company 1973-1980. Articled clerk with Lewis Silkin 1985. Qualified as a solicitor 1987. Elected councillor, London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, May 1985. DBE New Year’s Honours List 2001.