A Reform UK candidate in next week’s Greenwich Council elections has been criticised for standing in Woolwich when he is already a councillor in Kent.
Alan Cecil, who is chair of Reform’s Greenwich branch, was elected to represent Wilmington, south of Dartford, on Kent County Council last year.
He is now also on the ballot paper in Woolwich Arsenal ward for the Greenwich Council election, which will take place on May 7, with his address given as being in the borough of Dartford.
Siama Qadar, the party’s candidate in Eltham Page & Progress, said that although Cecil lived in Dartford, he was born and raised in Woolwich and “knows the area well”. Cecil was approached by the Local Democracy Reporting Service for comment but did not respond.
Candidates must live, own or rent property, or work in the area covered by the council for which they wish to stand, or must be registered as a voter there throughout the election period.
Three of the 278 candidates in this year’s election have given home addresses outside the borough: one for Reform, one for the Greens and one for the Conservatives.
Greenwich Council’s Labour leader, Anthony Okereke, who is standing for re-election in nearby Woolwich Common, questioned whether the Reform candidate would be able to handle the workload of two councils.
“If you want to serve a ward, you must be there,” he said. “You must be on the ground. I know that Reform aren’t attending hustings. I wanted to go to my hustings, but the Greens and Reform and the Tories all pulled out.
“It’s a shame that they did pull out because what they would have seen was a very active councillor who can speak to every single issue in my ward, and I don’t think he would be able to do that. You can’t be a councillor if you’re serving two different areas. It just doesn’t work that way.”
Okereke also condemned Reform’s intention to withdraw Greenwich’s status as a borough of sanctuary, calling it “a very cruel position to take” and saying “the values that they speak up in their manifesto shows me that they don’t know British history”.
Greenwich was awarded borough of sanctuary status in 2023, recognising it as an area that welcomes and values the contribution of refugees, migrants and those seeking sanctuary.
He said “If you were to abolish our sanctuary status, how are you being welcoming to the Ukrainians? We are a country of sanctuary.
“It’s been in our blood for years from World War One to World War Two, we’ve always been a borough of sanctuary and a country of sanctuary. Sanctuary status is just about being welcoming to those who have been accepted as asylum seekers.”
DJ Cracknell, who is standing for the Greens in Woolwich Dockyard, has given his home address as Rother, the East Sussex district that contains Bexhill-on-Sea. It would take one-and-a-half hours by car or a three-and-a-half hours by public transport to reach Woolwich.
A spokesperson for the Greenwich Green Party said: “DJ Cracknell lived in the family home in Woolwich Dockyard ward from 2000 until early last year and is currently registered to vote there. The candidate now lives in East Sussex but if successfully elected a councillor will, of course, return to live in the ward.”
Aileen Davis is standing for the Conservatives in Woolwich Arsenal. Her home address is a few streets across the boundary with Bexley, in Sidcup.
Cameron Blackshaw is the Local Democracy Reporter for Greenwich. The Greenwich Wire is a partner in the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which is a BBC-funded initiative to ensure councils are covered properly in local media. Additional reporting by Darryl Chamberlain.
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