We’re extremely proud of our campaign — it’s been the best and biggest local election campaign that Greens have ever run in this borough, and it’s produced a fantastic vote share of 16%, over 10 points more than in 2022.
We’re continuing to prove we’re a major party in this borough, coming a strong second to the Liberal Democrats in wards where we focused our efforts (such as in South Twickenham and Ham, Petersham & Richmond Riverside) and a close third overall behind the Conservatives who threw everything they had at wards like Mortlake & Barnes Common and South Richmond.
This is an impressive degree of forward momentum, to have achieved this vote share for the first time in this borough. We see it this way due to the exceptional circumstances of the previous two elections. These involved a progressive alliance whereby the Lib Dems and Greens did not stand against each other, on the proviso that the Greens limited themselves to only standing in a handful of seats (most of which we successfully won).
We have more than tripled our membership locally in just the last year, while nationally we stand at over 230,000 members and counting. We’re a party that’s growing in support in this borough, and we’ll be back in the council again in future, for sure.
The Lib Dems now have a monopoly on this council, which is not a healthy position for our residents as there is nobody to stand up for them if the administration is going in a direction they don’t want. A monopoly means that the voices of residents aren’t heard as effectively and alternative perspectives either get sidelined or go missing entirely. Time and again on the doorsteps we heard many residents telling us about how much they didn’t want a one-party borough.
Former Leader of the Opposition Richard Bennett said: “Without constructive opposition, the Liberal Democrats will become complacent and make more decisions that defy logic and their own policies and strategies. Residents deserve transparency and accountability — this new administration will provide neither.”
Unfortunately, a one-party borough is what they’ve ended up with, because of the ridiculously unsuitable First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system. Many voters choose the acceptable party that they believe can beat the party they most want to keep out — which in this borough has mainly meant voting Lib Dem to keep out Reform, although of course many are voting against the Conservatives too.
The Lib Dems milked this situation to their benefit during the campaign, by hugely exaggerating the threat posed by the Conservatives in 2026 in this borough. All their leaflets emphasised the strength of the Conservatives by saying that no other party was in the same ballpark — crying ‘wolf’ really — which has lent a dangerous credibility to the Tories that they didn’t deserve this time around.
For now, and for the next few years, we will continue to represent residents as best we can. We’ll be asking questions at Full Council and advising residents on how to best challenge Council decisions they disagree with. We’ll be looking into ways we can raise people’s awareness of the false representation created by FPTP.
Our results prove that there are a large proportion of local residents who are concerned about rising inequality in the UK, and concerned about the climate and biodiversity crises around the world.
Richmond & Twickenham Green Party Joint Coordinator Chas Warlow said: “The Liberal Democrats threw everything they had at defeating the Greens and in doing so have shot themselves in the foot. The Green Party is the party of the future. Most of the Liberal Democrats’ progressive ideas have come from Green councillors’ proposals — what will they do without us?”
We’re confident we’ll build on that concern with support for our initiatives, be back on the Council in the future and help to grow the Greens’ London Assembly share in two years.