After a dramatic 24 hours that saw 3 tense recounts for the party, the Greens are today celebrating having doubled its number of local borough council seats in London.
Islington Greens have cause for celebration after Caroline Russell (front right) was elected
in Highbury East by just 8 votes
The first victory for the Greens came when Scott Ainslie was elected to St. Leonard’s in Lambeth, narrowly missing out on a second seat after a recount. But luck was on the side of the Greens when shortly after in Camden a recount confirmed that Sian Berry had held the Green seat in Highgate previously occupied by Maya de Souza, closely followed by a gain for the Greens in Islington with the election of Caroline Russell in Highbury East by an 8-vote whisker. The final victory of the night was in Lewisham, one of the last councils in the country to finish its count, when John Coughlin held the Brockley seat previously occupied by Darren Johnson.
The collapse of support for the Lib Dems now leaves the Greens as the sole opposition in both Islington and Lewisham Councils.
Sole opposition
Speaking to the Islington Gazette, Cllr Caroline Russell said: “We are delighted to have a Green councillor back on the council.
“Labour has almost 100 per cent of the seats but not 100 per cent of the votes. We came second in most of the wards and are now the official opposition.
“Labour has responsibility to treat the situation with care because we need to have democracy and accountability on the council.”
Katie Dawson, the last Green Party member to hold a seat on the council, said: “We’ve come second across the borough which is amazing but to come second and only get one seat is very disappointing.
“If we had proportional representation I don’t know how many seats we would have won but nobody can argue against us being the number two party in the borough now.
Lewisham’s Brockley Central blog commented on Labour’s victory in the South East: “A lot now falls on Coughlin’s shoulders in terms of holding Labour to account in Lewisham.”
Darren Johnson who vacated the seat after 12 years representing Brockley said: “Huge congratulations to John on his victory and to all the team for their brilliant efforts.
“It‘s so very gratifying to see the local party in such safe hands with a bright and secure future.”
Green gains
Greens caused upset in Lambeth after Scott Ainslie was elected for St. Leonard’s ward with the Greens narrowly missing out on a second councillor – described as the “shock of the day” in local news papers today. Speaking to South West Londoner, Cllr Ainslie said:
“It means that we can create a great base for Green candidates,” he said. “The Greens have twenty-first century solutions for twenty-first century problems.
“We are needed more than ever now we have a one party state in Lambeth. I hope we can really build on the modest basis we have today.
“It certainly points in the right direction with some of the figures across the borough for the future.”
Only Greens holding Labour to account
In Camden, newly elected Cllr Sian Berry told the Camden New Journal: “It’s important that Camden has other voices apart from Labour at the council and we worked hard in Highgate to keep our seat there.
“Maya has shown over the last four years what can be achieved even with one councillor, while the results today have shown Greens are becoming the main opposition to Labour in some parts of London.”
More on the election results coming shortly. European Election results expected Sunday evening.