Two Lambeth Council by-elections confirmed following Gaza resignation and political careerist ambitions on the South Coast

Two by-elections for Lambeth Council have been confirmed for 2nd May – the same day that voters will go to the polls for the London Mayoral elections.

Residents in Knight’s Hill and Streatham Common & Vale will have the opportunity to elect a new Councillor. This follows the resignation of two Labour Councillors for different reasons.

Ex-Cabinet member Cllr Sonia Winifred resigned her seat after she was disciplined by Lambeth Labour for supporting a ceasefire in Gaza.

Cllr Winifred voted in favour of a Green party Motion calling for a ceasefire back in January at Full Council. Lambeth Labour failed to offer any alternative or Amendment.

The local Labour party gave Cllr Winifred a three month suspension for not following the Labour whip. Cllr Winifred resigned immediately.

Her statement said:

“During my six-hour trial I was questioned on collective responsibility, whether I had considered the impact of my voting FOR the motion on my fellow Councillors. To that end, I no longer have any confidence in the Leadership/Administration of Lambeth Council.”

Lambeth Labour Leader Cllr Claire Holland managed to survive a Leadership challenge at the Labour Group AGM in March.

The second by-election has come about after Streatham Common & Vale Labour Cllr Tom Rutland has disappeared to the South Coast – less than two years after first being elected as a Lambeth Councillor. Rutland believes that he should now be an MP.

Cllr Rutland is the PPC candidate for East Worthing and Shoreham. Local Labour party members in the constituency have expressed their disappointment that a Starmer clone has been bussed in to contest the seat.

He has also faced criticism from the residents he was suppose to represent in Lambeth. Cllr Rutland has been absent from his local surgeries whilst doing the #labourdoorstep thing on the South Coast.

Cllr Rutland was selected to be the PPC for East Worthing and Shoreham back in November. It’s taken him six months to finally have to conviction to do the decent thing in his Streatham ward.

Local residents have told Brixton Buzz that Cllr Rutland was banking on a May General Election, meaning that he could hedge his bets. Plan A was to become an MP. If that failed, then Plan B in Lambeth was the back up.

With a late autumn GE now looking likely, Cllr Rutland has realised that he can’t carry on his dual identity for a full year.

Lambeth Labour will be hoping that it can pick up local votes in both wards on the back of the London Mayor elections. The feeling is that locals like Sadiq Khan. They will give the two Lambeth Labour candidates their vote on the back of this.

Five candidates have stepped forward for Knight’s Hill:

EVANS Torla – Green

GAYLE Janet – Independent

NYE Emma Louise – Labour

SANDERS Nicholas James – LibDem

YAASEN Leila – Tory

Labour’s Emma Nye is a previous Lambeth Councillor. She was elected as a Labour Councillor in Coldharbour ward in 2018. She stepped down in 2022.

Four candidates are standing in Streatham Common & Vale:

COLE Sarah Louise – Labour

DAVIDSON Nicholas Callum – LibDem

EASTOE Duncan – Greens

PHILLIPS Promise – Local Conservatives.

Duncan Eastoe stood for the Greens in the same ward in 2022. He finished in fourth behind the three Labour candidates.

Note the use of the phrase Local Conservative for the Tory candidate. Being associated with the national Tory party is a tough ask at the polls right now.