Greenwich’s only Liberal Democrat councillor, Chris Lloyd, has announced his resignation – prompting the borough’s fourth by-election of the year in West Thamesmead.
Lloyd had been a councillor for a decade after first being elected in the old Peninsula ward for Labour in 2014. He switched to West Thamesmead in 2022, but quit Labour last year after accusing a fellow councillor of homophobia. He joined the Lib Dems in May.
His resignation had long been expected at the town hall, as his husband, Labour councillor Sammy Backon, quit seven weeks ago to take up a new job outside London. The Conservatives won the resulting by-election in Eltham Town & Avery Hill.
Lloyd said that the couple had been living in Wales since the summer to be closer to his family, but he opted to stay on to help residents in the Royal Artillery Quays development, who are in dispute with the company that built the blocks, Barratt, over plans to replace dangerous cladding.
He said: “I remained in my post to advocate for the residents of Royal Artillery Quays over the scandalous situation regarding the fire safety of their homes.
“I am pleased that the combined efforts of residents, successive MPs, and my own small contributions have raised this travesty to the top of the political agenda in the Town Hall and the leadership is now engaging with the concerns of the thousand-plus residents and engaging with Barratt.
“The fight is not over, but the change in my own circumstances means that my efforts have reached their natural conclusion, and I wish all involved strength and courage to do what is right.”
Earlier this year, Labour was accused of blocking a motion that Lloyd put forward supporting residents after his fellow councillor in the ward, ‘Lade Hephzibah Olugbemi, withdrew her backing.
A new motion would have been heard at a council election this week, but that was cancelled because of another by-election, this time in Shooters Hill, called after the resignation of former council leader Danny Thorpe, which will take place on November 14.
No date has been set for the West Thamesmead by-election, which is likely to be before Christmas.
The Conservatives have won the two by-elections held so far in the borough, with Charlie Davis winning the Eltham Town poll and Roger Tester being elected in Mottingham, Coldharbour & New Eltham, which was held after long-serving councillor John Hills died.
West Thamesmead was an overwhelmingly safe seat for Labour in 2022, with Lloyd taking 74 per cent of the vote for the party – but the sheer number of people living in Royal Artillery Quays and neighbouring new housing could potentially force an upset at a by-election.
Before he quit the party, Lloyd had previously been selected to be Labour general election candidate in North Swindon but he stood down after a few weeks citing personal reasons.
In a resignation statement sent to The Greenwich Wire, he said he had been “privileged” to have lived in every corner of the borough, from Deptford – where he lived in halls of residence as a student – to Thamesmead to Eltham, and thanked the Greenwich Lib Dems and local Labour parties in Greenwich Peninsula and West Thamesmead.
“I am proud of my work on Greenwich Council over the last decade. Whether it be leading the charge to save the rose garden on Tunnel Avenue, helping the Labour group rethink its position on the toxic Silvertown Tunnel, standing up to antisemitism and homophobia, clearing thousands of fly-tips, fighting filthy air and using my vote on the planning board to get hundreds of new council homes approved,” he said.
“Also using my position as chair of scrutiny to drive down the amount that the council spent on agency staff by millions of pounds and finally making formal recommendations to train more apprentices from the local community.
“It truly is the best corner of the capital, not because of buildings, marks on a map or its rich history, but because of the people, people that have had a profound impact on me for over half of my life.”
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