Cllr Trey Campbell-Simon said “Nationally, Labour under Keir Starmer no longer represents the values that inspired me to join at 18. From his refusal to scrap the cruel two-child benefit cap, to proposed cuts to disability support, to his rhetoric on immigration including his Powellite ‘Island of Strangers’ speech, Labour is embracing a shift to the right and pandering to Reform UK in a way I cannot support.
Locally, the Labour administration in Hammersmith and Fulham is failing the people it was elected to serve. Council housing remains in a poor state, with serious issues of damp and mould persisting across the borough. Labour now operates with a supermajority on the council with the local Conservatives providing no meaningful opposition. Next May, the supermajority Labour administration will have been in control of the council for 12 years;
the Greens offer what Labour no longer does: honesty, accountability, and a commitment to social and environmental justice. I’m joining them because I believe residents deserve better and I refuse to be complicit in policies that harm the communities I was elected to stand with.”

Cllr Liz Collins said “I joined the Labour Party to make a difference in people’s lives. But I found a culture where councillors are punished for speaking up, and where residents’ voices are too often ignored. I was told not to listen to council tenants because they were ‘lucky’ to pay lower rents, and that elderly leaseholders had ‘enough money’ to cope with rising charges. That’s not the kind of politics I believe in.
Residents just want safe, mould-free homes. They want streets that feel safe, and they want to be heard. Instead, they’re hit with fines for minor mistakes, threatened over confusing recycling rules, and treated like a revenue source rather than human beings.
I stayed quiet at first, hoping for the greater good. But that good never came. H&F Labour says a lot but delivers little. The Green Party listens, acts, and stands up for those most overlooked. I’m proud to join a party that puts people and planet first.”

The post Two Hammersmith & Fulham Councillors Join Greens appeared first on West Central London Green Party.

Sanya Mihaylovic is the Green Party candidate for Vincent Square, Westminster in the upcoming by-election on Thursday, 27th February 2025.

Sanya is a proud Londoner. She is a filmmaker, lecturer and passionate activist campaigning for peace, democracy, equality and dignity. Having lived in Westminster for many years, she has a thorough understanding of the pressing issues affecting every corner of the borough.

Only a vote for Sanya and the Green Party in these by-elections can have the impact that Vincent Square and Westminster so desperately need. 

🌿 Vote for Sanya, Vote Green.
🌍 For a beautiful life on a beautiful planet – for everyone.

Sanya’s Commitments

💧 Clean Water

• Push for Thames Water and sewage dump monitoring, with live updates and simplified reports available online for public scrutiny.

🌱 Clean Air

• Demand constant air pollution monitoring near construction sites and pollution hotspots.
• Ensure live updates are publicly available online – not hidden in committee meeting notes.

🤝 Real and Effective Support

• Weekly in-person surgeries to hear residents’ concerns directly.
• Proactive engagement with all demographics to assess emerging issues.
• Initial response within 24-48 hours to any new queries or concerns.

🏡 A Thriving Community

• Local events and celebrations designed exclusively for residents and to everyone’s liking.
• Cleaner, safer spaces for all.

🏙️ A Better Westminster in a Better World for all

• Divest from wars and environmental destruction.
• Westminster’s residents—both English and international—oppose nuclear threats and are sickened by the human toll of ongoing wars.
• With 46% of Vincent Square properties at risk of flooding, we must take urgent action to combat the climate emergency at both local and global levels.

Only a Green vote makes waves. Only when you vote Green does the establishment really listen. On the 27th February, do not waste your vote on the same old, self-serving, visionless parties that facilitate the status quo. Whatever you’ve voted, don’t vote rubbish anymore. Vote for better, vote for Sanya – vote Green.

The post Vincent Square by-election CANDIDATE STATEMENT appeared first on West Central London Green Party.

📅 Date: 3rd March
📍 Location:  180 Portobello Rd, London W11 2EB
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM

Join us for our monthly meeting, where we will hold an in-person vote for a new Chair. Any member is welcome to stand, with brief hustings taking place before the vote.

We will also decide on our Westminster Target Ward, so if you have proposals, please come prepared to share them.

Lastly there will be a debrief on the Vincent Square by-election (27th February). If you’d like to help with this campaign, please email media@wcl.greenparty.org.uk asap.

All members are encouraged to attend and participate in these important decisions. See you there!

The post West Central London GREEN Party – March Monthly Meeting appeared first on West Central London Green Party.

The opening of the ‘Marble Arch Mound’ arguably did not go as Westminster Council, which commissioned the project, and the architects MVRDV, who realised it, would have hoped. Within days Londoners had collectively put their thumbs down. When I first saw it, I have to admit, I was also underwhelmed.

Not only does the Mound look a lot less impressive in reality than what was promised. It also seems to be beset with problems, not having been finished in time for its launch at the end of July. In crisis mode, Westminster council decided to waive the ticket cost (£4.50 per person) for the month of August and will refund those who already bought them.  Now the deputy leader of Westminster council, Melvyn Caplan, has resigned in light of the spiralling costs of the unloved project, which stand at £6million.

In principle, the idea of the Mound is not a bad one. The council hopes to revive the blighted Oxford Street and the wider West End after the pandemic. By creating a visitor attraction with the Mound, more people may be enticed to visit the surrounding streets.

The Mound also wanted to be a green statement: the makers MVRDV claim it is almost fully re-useable (scaffolding holds the structure up and the decorative turf and trees can be used in gardens and parks). Aesthetically, MVRDV aims for the Mount to reconnect Marble Arch to Hyde Park. It has been ‘disconnected’ ever since 1960, when urban planners thought little of green spaces and plastered a multi-lane roundabout over Speakers Corner, creating a traffic island with the Marble Arch in its middle.

Sadly, the Mound does not actually re-green any road space. It sits on the traffic island, which pedestrians and cyclists can only cross by daring death on the busy roads. It does not have to be like this: remember when Extinction Rebellion occupied the streets around Marble Arch in Spring 2019 and erected a camp on the site of where the Mound sits now?

XR achieved all the Marble Arch Mound wants to do, and certainly with a much smaller budget. For a few days in April, Marble Arch was once again connected to Hyde Park. The usually noisy and polluted place was filled with life. Kids drew on the multi-lane roads. 

As for the businesses on Oxford Street: they benefit from what Greens have demanded for decades: a pedestrianised, liveable urban space, which is healthy and fun to be in. 

Many Londoners agreed. See this article from the Evening Standard.

Here’s the real lesson from the Marble Arch Mound saga: Oxford Street should be car-free in its entirety, extending the planned part-pedestrianising of Oxford Circus all the way up to Marble Arch. This will bring back healthy streets, and that is what will bring people back into the city. And while we are at it, we should also be linking the park back to Marble Arch by closing the road that separates them. We do not need to raise a mountain to do so, just some common sense.

The post A whole heap of trouble for Westminster Council appeared first on West Central London Green Party.

Date: Sunday 30^th May 2021

Time: 1.30pm

Starting Point: Queen Victoria Statue between Kensington Palace and the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens

End point: by Royal Festival Hall – Southbank

We will start by the round pond near Kensington Palace moving across to Hyde Park Corner and then on to Green Park via Wellington’s Arch. We will then cross The Mall, past Buckingham Palace to reach St James’s Park. There is the option of going to a nearby pub at the end.

Starting point transport links:

Tube: High Street Kensington, Notting Hill Gate, Queensway, Bayswater.

Buses: 23, 27, 52, 70, 94, 148

Contact person: Alex Horn – 07773898806

Book on Action Network

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The Green party have the potential to win anywhere writes new Green London Assembly member Zack Polanksi as he finishes his first week in the job.

The post The reality is that London is a green and red city now appeared first on West Central London Green Party.

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The Green Party’s London Mayor candidate Sian Berry met with cycling campaigners in Kensington on Saturday to protest at the removal of a controversial cycle lane from the area. Read the article.

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Council transport lead Johnny Thalassites took the decision to remove the lane in December, causing an outcry from the community, including several local schools and large-scale employers and businesses along the route. Faced with the threat of legal action over the removal, RBK&C council decided to revisit the decision. 

Today the meeting of the council, which is governed by a Conservative majority, confirmed the previous decision to remove the lane, choosing to delay despite key evidence for support among the community, commuters  and businesses.

“RBK&C leaders evidently decided some time ago that cycle lanes have no place in the borough, regardless of their safety benefits and despite the express wishes of the majority of local residents and businesses, for more cycle lanes” says Zack Polanski, the Green Party Assembly candidate for West Central London. 

Council leader Elizabeth Campbell argued that cycle lanes cannot be introduced ‘willy nilly’, but the support for the measure is well documented. A survey, commissioned by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, had found that a majority of RBK&C residents support the cycle lane. Support is highest in less privileged areas of the borough, where car ownership is lowest (1).

Kensington Greens asked for such a survey to be conducted in December 2020 (2). 

“We understand how frustrated people are with the council leadership and how much they crave for political change in the borough,” says local Green party activist Fabian Frenzel 

A council commissioned report has confirmed that the cycle lane increased cycling, particularly on weekends, and did not cause prolonged journey times for motorised traffic during its short existence. 

“We need a council that makes decisions based on evidence, not prejudice” says Frenzel

The post Council blocks cycling safety on one of London’s most dangerous roads appeared first on West Central London Green Party.

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