Deptford: Greens launch campaign to topple Labour across London

The Green Party is hoping to take advantage of a “chaotic political moment” to take control of swathes of Labour councils across London, a leading candidate has said.

Zöe Garbett, a London Assembly Member who is also hoping to win the Hackney Mayoral election in May, said the next four weeks could prove decisive for the party’s stature in the city.

Recent polling from Bombe showed that the Greens could take control of up to nine London councils next month, including Hackney, as Labour continues to lose progressive voters to the left-wing party. Hackney is one of a few London councils to have a directly elected Mayor.

“We’re in a kind of chaotic political moment, a moment that I don’t think we’ve seen before in London,” Garbett told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

“I’ve been in the Green Party for 14 years, I’ve knocked on doors in Hackney for that long – and this is feeling like a real moment of change.

“I think people are feeling hugely let down by the Labour government, hugely let done by their local (Labour) councils not standing up to that Labour government. And there’s things that they really need to get fixed in their communities.

“There’s some basics that the council just aren’t getting right that we know that we can.”

Success for the Greens nationwide would mean beating the 241 gains seen at the 2022 local elections, Greens Leader Zack Polanski said at the party’s local election launch in Deptford, Lewisham on 9 April, adding that he was “confident” that voters wanted an alternative to the entrenched dominance of Labour across the capital.

He said in many seats across London and the country, the battle between the Greens and Reform UK was one between “hope and hate”.

Garbett, who came fourth in the 2024 London Mayoral election, also said that the election of Green-controlled councils across the city could lay the groundwork for a stronger challenge in 2028.

Alongside Polanski and veteran Assembly Member Caroline Russell, the party uses its limited voice in City Hall to hold Sadiq Khan to account.

If they capitalise on their growing popularity in the city, they could see their numbers more than double on the 25-strong London Assembly in two years time, though the vote being split between multiple parties could see City Hall remain under Labour control.

A Savanta survey for the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary University of London in January showed the Labour party on 32%, followed by the Conservatives on 20%, Reform 19%, the Greens 13% and Liberal Democrats 11%.

Previously, Polanski told the LDRS that it was “possible” to see a Green Mayor of London in 2028.

Garbett appeared more chipper on their chances, however, despite the Green Party never breaching 10% in the Mayoral vote.

“We’ve always stood a Mayoral candidate and we’ve pushed really hard on those elections,” she said. “We’ve seen the importance of the Mayor of London’s role around policing and transport and housing and planning.

“I think we’re gonna see huge wins in four weeks and we can really set our sights on doing really well in those [upcoming] London elections.”

She also said Sadiq's Khan's comments this week urging wavering Labour voters not to cast their ballot in “protest” for the Greens or Reform UK on May were “typical” of the Labour party.

Zack Polanski accuses Sadiq Khan of trying to ‘stay on the side of Keir Starmer’ rather than serving Londoners

Zöe Garbett added: “When I ran to be the Mayor of London two years ago, there was [also] a big push in scaring people into voting for Labour.

“We’re a party of hope. We’re putting forward hope and a plan, and people are seeing that. They’ve seen their elected Greens working really hard. People know that they can vote Green with confidence and we’re going to see lots of Greens elected.”

Part of the party’s core messaging ahead of 7 May will be targeting the government’s record on building affordable housing across the country.

In London, Sadiq Khan has been heavily criticised for falling short of government targets, with the Green group also raising concerns over the recent decision to slash affordability quotas for developers from 35% to 20%.

Labour hit back at the Greens over housing following the launch, with Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed, saying: “Zack Polanski can launch whatever campaign he likes, but the facts don’t change.

“The Green Party has tried to block at least 42,000 homes across the country since 2018, including over 13,000 affordable homes – and that same pattern is playing out across London.

“From Lewisham to Camden, Hackney to Islington, Greens have opposed thousands of homes in a city where the housing crisis is most acute.

“There is nothing progressive about keeping London families in temporary accommodation. If you’re not willing to build the homes Londoners need, you are choosing to keep them there.”

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