In short:
- Ann-Marie Cousins and Lakshan Saldin have walked out of the Greenwich Labour group and will sit as independents until the council elections on May 7
- They and two other councillors were barred by Labour officials from standing for the party next year
- Ten female councillors are voluntarily standing down, along with four men. All are expected to remain in post as Labour councillors until May
- Labour members in each ward are choosing candidates this month and next month
Two Greenwich Labour councillors – including a former cabinet member – have quit the party after being told they cannot stand in the council elections next May.
They are among four sitting councillors that have been barred by Labour officials, while more than a third of women councillors have decided to not to stand again, The Greenwich Wire understands.
Ann-Marie Cousins, a former cabinet member and the current councillor for Abbey Wood, and Lakshan Saldin, who represents Charlton Hornfair, will sit as independents until the election on May 7, when all 55 seats across the borough will be up for grabs.
Both criticised the way councillors are treated in the local party, led by Anthony Okereke, and Labour’s policies under Sir Keir Starmer.
The two resignations bring the number of Labour councillors down to 47. Labour won 53 after the last election in 2022, under the council’s previous leader, Danny Thorpe.
The Conservatives now have four councillors – up from two – while the Greens won their first councillor in June. Cousins and Saldin will join Majella Anning, who quit Labour in March, as independents.
In a message to residents in Charlton Hornfair, Saldin, who was first elected in 2022, said he had quit the party “after a panel appointed by the London-wide Labour Party decided I was not enough in line with the national party leadership to stand as its candidate in next year’s council elections. It follows logically that I should no longer sit as a Labour councillor.”
He added: “I have always sought to put residents first and, now I am free from the restrictions of being part of the council’s Labour group, will be able to fight even harder for your needs and concerns without my hands being tied by the factional priorities of the party’s national and local leadership.”
Cousins was first elected in 2018 and had been cabinet member for equality, culture and communities. But she was sacked last year after falling out with Okereke over whether she should attend a meeting of the council’s senior leadership team.
She said: “Labour councillors who really want to serve their diverse communities and show compassion on impact of international issues, such as what is happening to Palestinians in the Israel-Gaza war and the exploitation of minerals and people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, are silenced by the Labour Party’s machinery and risk disciplinary action if they wish to speak out for their residents.
“With the Labour shackles broken asunder, I can be a loud and proud humanitarian voice for our diverse communities.”
The rejection by officials came after a bruising and drawn-out process, which was extended after Labour’s humiliating defeat in the Shooters Hill by-election in June. Green candidate Tamasin Rhymes took the seat following the resignation of Ivis Williams, who was threatened with suspension by Labour. She had spoken up for residents angry about the planned sale of land at the Shrewsbury House community centre and the former Greenwich equestrian centre.
Cousins said her mother had always encouraged her to vote Labour, and added: “Campaigning in Shooters Hill really brought into focus just how angry many voters are with Labour. It was painful to hear an elder say that she would rather stick pins in her eyes than vote Labour. That is not how I wish to honour the memory of my mother, our elders or pass on a legacy to my children.”
Who else was not selected?
Former ceremonial mayor and current Woolwich Dockyard councillor Dominic Mbang also did not make it onto the “approved panel” of 60 hopefuls eligible to be picked for a ward, multiple sources said. Nor did Dave Sullivan, who represents Kidbrooke Village and is a former leader of Lewisham Council.
Sullivan said he was proud of his record in the ward and as the council’s representative on the trust that runs Woolwich Works. He told The Greenwich Wire he was blocked for not having attended enough local Labour meetings or having canvassed enough outside the borough, but said he was in two minds about whether to stand again anyway as he would have other commitments next year.
“It would have been nice to have had the choice about whether or not to stand,” he said. “But I respect the local party’s need to have councillors who have time to attend most ward meetings and do lots of canvassing outside the borough as well as inside it.”
Mbang has been contacted for comment. Both are expected to stay in post until May.
The Greenwich Wire understands that two high-profile councillors with more than 40 years of service between them were also initially rejected by party officials, but successfully appealed after the Shooters Hill fiasco.
Female councillors drop out
Ten female councillors decided not to go through the process in the first place, out of 27 in place before Cousins’ resignation from the party on Wednesday morning. Just four men are leaving voluntarily, The Greenwich Wire understands.
The women leaving are: Denise Hyland (Abbey Wood), Rowshan Hannan (East Greenwich), Sarah Merrill (Eltham Page), Miranda Williams (Eltham Page), Linda Bird (Eltham Park & Progress), Lauren Dingsdale (Eltham Town & Avery Hill), Odette McGahey (Kidbrooke Park), Cathy Dowse (Mottingham, Coldharbour & New Eltham), Nas Asghar (Plumstead Common) and Sandra Thomas (Plumstead & Glyndon). Six of the ten – Hannan, Dingsdale, McGahey, Dowse, Asghar and Thomas – are leaving after only one term.
Two men are also leaving after just one term: Peter Baker (Abbey Wood) and Simon Peirce (Eltham Park & Progress). Planning chair Gary Dillon (Charlton Village & Riverside) is also leaving, as is Matt Morrow (Plumstead Common), a cabinet member under Thorpe.
All 14 councillors who are standing down are expected to continue in post until the end of their term in May.
Who is on the list?
Labour has run Greenwich since 1971, but next year’s poll is likely to be the most difficult for many years because of the unpopularity of Starmer’s government. The Tories and Greens will be hoping to get more councillors while Reform UK will be aiming for its first successes.
Local party members have now been given a list of 60 potential candidates – the “approved panel” – as well as statements from each of them and the wards they would like to stand in. Selection meetings are taking place this month and next month. In Shooters Hill, party officials will make the choice for them.
Of the remaining 47 Labour councillors, 31 are hoping to contest next year’s election and have made it onto the panel. One former councillor, Clive Mardner, who represented Abbey Wood between 1998 and 2022, is also among the 60 hopefuls. Jeremy Fraser, a leader of Southwark Council in the mid-1990s and now a vicar across the Thames in North Woolwich, is also on the list.
Jummy Dawodu, Labour’s candidate in the disastrous Shooters Hill poll, remains on the approved list. Labour officials told Shooters Hill party members last week that they would be imposing a candidate on the ward.
Chris McGurk and Nikki Thurlow, who lost to the Conservatives in previous by-elections in Eltham Town and Mottingham, Coldharbour & New Eltham, are also on the approved list.
Meetings to decide shortlists in each ward began last week and selections began on Tuesday night. Council leader Anthony Okereke and his chief whip, Liz Ige, were unopposed in Woolwich Common, while cabinet member Adel Khaireh, former ceremonial mayor Jit Ranhabat and newcomer Tammy Aghedo were picked in Plumstead & Glyndon.
Four months ago Aghedo stood down as a director of Black Female Entrepreneur Greenwich, which put on events for the council this summer. She was Labour’s original choice for the Shooters Hill by-election in June, but is believed to have stood aside because of her role at BFEG.
Most ward parties have to pick at least one woman, although in some three-member wards – Abbey Wood, Plumstead Common, Blackheath Westcombe, Eltham Town, Mottingham, Coldharbour & New Eltham – they have to pick two.
The selections are due to be completed by the middle of next month.
The panel of 60 are (current councillors in bold): Adel Khaireh, Aidan Smith, Angela Josiah, Anthony Okereke, Asli Mohammed, Averil Lekau, Bren Albiston, Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, Christine May, Christine St Matthew Daniel, Chris McGurk, Clare Burke-Macdonald, Clive Mardner, Curtis Rulton, David Gardner, Denise Scott MacDonald, Erik Cummins, Femi Solola, Frederick Sullivan-Wallace, Gabriella Olumide, Gaumaya Gurung Ranabhat, Guled Abdullahi, Helen Laker, Isaac Attram, Issy Cooke, Jackie Smith, Jahdia Spencer, Jane Dickenson, Jeremy Fraser, Jit Ranabhat, Jo van den Broek, John Fahy, Johnathan Akindutire, Joshua Ayodele, Jummy Dawodu, Kim Sullivan, ‘Lade Hephzibah Olugbemi, Leo Fletcher, Lewis Hurst, Liz Ige, Maisie Richards Cottell, Majid Rahman, Mariam Lolovar, Marsha Kinkaid, Mohammed Khan, Nathan Baffour-Awuah, Nick Williams, Nikki Thurlow, Olu Babatola, Pat Slattery, Rachel Taggart-Ryan, Raja Zeeshan, Rob Stebbings, Sam Littlewood, Sandra Bauer, Stevie Baverstock, Tammy Aghedo, Tillie Muir, Timothy Folaranmi, Tom Fielder.
What does Greenwich Labour say?
Okereke told The Greenwich Wire on Wednesday afternoon: “Greenwich Labour is laser-focused on getting things done for residents, tackling criminal fly-tipping, making our streets safer, and repairing our roads and pavements.
“I am proud that the majority of my cabinet are women, and that our Greenwich Labour team truly reflects the diversity of our borough. I am also delighted that a number of brilliant women candidates will be standing for Greenwich Labour at the next election — candidates who I know will work tirelessly to deliver for residents.”
Matt Hartley, the Conservative opposition leader, said Okereke “should be reflecting on why he’s now lost three by-elections and 10 per cent of his council seats since becoming leader of the council three short years ago. All people want is a council that listens to them and takes their views seriously – it shouldn’t be too much to ask.”
• For anyone interested in standing for election themselves in May, Be A Councillor has information about what it involves and how to go about it.
Updated at 10.55pm to correct a ward and to add information about Tuesday’s selections, again at 3.40pm to include Anthony Okereke’s statement, and again at 5.45pm to correct another ward and add Matt Hartley’s statement.
📩 Follow The Greenwich Wire on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn or Threads. You can also sign up for WhatsApp alerts – or subscribe to our emails through the blue box above.
Comments are closed.