The Conservatives now have four councillors in Greenwich after winning the Eltham Town & Avery Hill by-election, comfortably beating the Labour candidate.
Charlie Davis, who had been a councillor in the area until May 2022, returned to the town hall after picking up 1,522 votes – far ahead of Labour’s Chris McGurk, who won 981 votes.
Reform UK’s candidate, Ruth Handyside, came a distant third with 290 votes. Liberal Democrat Kieran Edwards had 132 votes, while Mark Williams scored 123 votes for the Greens. Arnold Tarling, an independent, won 70 votes.
The turnout was 27.95 per cent, with the results announced just after midnight. The by-election was called after Labour’s Sammy Backon resigned his seat to take up a new job outside London.
Tory activists – who donned “Choose Charlie” stickers for the campaign – were delighted with the result, which means Labour now has two fewer councillors than it did after the last council election in May 2022.
It is the second by-election win for the Tories in six months, after Roger Tester was elected in Mottingham, Coldharbour & New Eltham in June.
The win follows weeks of bad headlines for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government, but Davis said he concentrated on local matters.
He told The Greenwich Wire: “We were focused on the issues that matter to people in Eltham, New Eltham and the Avery Hill Estate. We ran a campaign that was about supporting our high streets, supporting local businesses, pushing for a local police base, protecting and enhancing our green spaces.
“A really big thing was holding the council to account on the poor repairs service that they have, considering the state that some tenants have to live in.
“People in the south of the borough feel neglected, like the council isn’t giving them attention.
“We focused on making sure that we supported businesses, that we were listening to residents’ concerns, and we’ll continue to do that for the next 18 months until the next election.”
Matt Hartley, the Conservative opposition leader, said Davis was a “fantastic candidate” and added: “After that first by-election [in Mottingham, Coldharbour & New Eltham], I don’t think this Labour administration paused to listen to what people in the south of the borough were saying. We’re clearly doing something right here. We’re listening to people, and that’s what the council needs to start doing.”
Hartley said the additional councillor meant the Tories would be able to “do more to hold this Labour administration to account. That’s what people want. People know that an overwhelmingly Labour-dominated council isn’t good for local decision-making.”
Both Davis and Hartley said they had not decided which of the candidates for the Conservative leadership – Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick – they would be backing.
“I genuinely haven’t thought about it yet because we’ve been knocking on thousands of doors,” Hartley said.
Labour now has 49 councillors, with the Tories now on four – Davis, Hartley, Tester and Pat Greenwell – and the Lib Dems on one – Chris Lloyd, who quit Labour last year. One seat is vacant.
Attention will now turn to another council by-election – with a poll being held in the Shooters Hill ward on November 14 following the resignation of former Labour council leader Danny Thorpe.
Candidates are expected to be confirmed on Friday evening with Labour standing Raja Zeeshan in a seat it won comfortably two years ago. Residents in Shooters Hill have until October 29 to register to vote at gov.uk/register-to-vote.
• There was some better news for Labour across the border in Bexley, where the party won a by-election in Belvedere. Jeremy Fosten picked up 862 votes, compared with 713 for the Conservative candidate Christine Bishop. Reform UK’s Michael Pastor was third with 378 votes. Previous councillor Daniel Francis stood down after being elected Labour MP for Bexleyheath & Crayford at the general election in July.
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