Yahoo News Labour Party says Tories will 'take London backward' as former councillor says she 'can't trust Starmer's party'
A former Labour councillor has called on voters to back the Greens at next week’s local elections after saying she “can’t trust” Keir Starmer’s party. Kensington and Chelsea cllr Mona Adam defected to the Green Party in November and was one of a string of councillors who left the party in the past year.
Cllr Adam said: “Keir Starmer’s Labour is a party I just can’t trust any more. It has let our communities down. Just yesterday, I was talking to a woman who said it’s time to give someone else a chance. “The Conservatives have let us down. Labour have let us down. We need something else.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “This election is a two-horse race between Sadiq Khan - London’s greenest ever Mayor - and the hard-right Tory candidate who would take London backwards. The Tories have changed the voting system and a vote for anyone but Sadiq on polling day risks letting in the Tory candidate in via the back door”
The councillor also cited the party’s stance on the conflict in Gaza as a reason for defecting, a stance echoed in cllr Mona Ahmed's resignation letter in October. In March, Dahabo Isse crossed the political aisle to join the Conservatives as one of its councillors.
In May last year, fellow Kensington and Chelsea cllr Emma Dent Coad quit the party after 40 years, calling it “unrecognisable”. Cllr Adam came to the UK as a refugee in 2004, joining the Labour Party and getting elected for Golborne Ward, Kensington and Chelsea Council, in 2022.
London’s mayoral election will be held on May 2 to elect the capital’s next mayor. Labour’s Sadiq Khan, who has served as mayor of London since 106, is seeking a third term in office and is currently leading in opinion polls.
Want more from MyLondon? Sign up to our daily newsletters for all the latest and greatest from across London here.
