The Lib Dems won complete control of Richmond by a landslide in last week’s local elections
Richmond Council’s re-elected Lib Dem leader has promised to listen to opposing voices in the borough, after the party took all 54 seats on the authority in a historic win at last week’s local elections. Sir Ed Davey’s party is entering its third term in charge of the South West London borough, but this time in complete control as all five Green councillors lost their seat on May 7.
The party had 49 seats going into the election, after the Conservatives lost their only seat on the authority in a by-election in January 2024. The Lib Dems originally took control of the council from the Tories in 2018.
Lib Dem council leader Gareth Roberts, who has led the authority since 2018, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) the administration was “absolutely thrilled” with the result and the trust shown by residents, but stressed members were looking at ways to formally represent dissenting voices in meetings.
Councillor Roberts said: “This is the result of a democratic vote. We would much rather have proportional representation because, unfortunately, first-past-the-post does throw up anomalies like this. But what we will guarantee is that we will ensure that we are listening to all of the voices, that we are governing for all people in the borough – not just those who voted for us.
“We want to make sure that we are transparent, open and trustworthy as a council and we hope to repay the trust which has been put in us by people all over the borough.”
The Lib Dems have long pushed for changes to the current electoral system by moving to a form of proportional representation, where the distribution of seats would broadly correspond with the proportion of total votes cast for each party.
Under the current system, the candidate with the most votes wins.
Councillor Roberts said the authority would make sure it listened to different residents’ voices, including through consultations and encouraging people to ask public questions at council meetings.
He added: “We’re looking at all sorts of mechanisms… about how we might be able to increase the number of different voices officially within council meetings because I fully recognise that people voted Conservative, they voted Reform, they voted Green and they voted Labour, and really those views shouldn’t be frozen out for four years simply because of the voting system that we have.”
Richmond’s former Green leader on the council, Andrée Frieze, told the LDRS after election night that the party would continue to scrutinise the Lib Dem administration.
Ms Frieze, who was not standing for re-election on Thursday, said: “I can’t deny that probably the national news over the last couple of weeks in the run up to the election – some of the stories going around about the Greens – won’t have played their part, and it’s difficult to say exactly why on the doorstep we didn’t quite manage it…
“Lib Dems are very strong and they’ve run a really strong election campaign, so well done them at the end of the day – one has to recognise that it’s a good result for them.
“I’m not sure that it’s a good result for residents, frankly. Having 54 councillors all from the same party, with no opposition to scrutinise them, is really bad for democracy. It’s really bad for residents.”
Ms Frieze vowed the Greens would “stand up for the rights of residents, but also make sure that we keep protecting our planet, dealing with inequality and social justice” by continuing to challenge the Lib Dems, who she warned against becoming “complacent”.
The Lib Dems’ victory comes after it stood a full slate of 54 candidates in RIchmond, as did Labour, the Conservatives and the Greens. Reform put forward 45 candidates, while three Independent candidates also battled for a seat.
The overall turnout in Richmond was 50.8 per cent – up from 47.7 per cent in 2022.
The Lib Dems secured 51.5 per cent of the votes, miles ahead of the Conservatives with 17.9 per cent of the share – they were followed by the Greens at 16.1 per cent, Reform at 10 per cent and Labour at 4.5 per cent.
The party’s manifesto pledges to “protect what matters most – by transforming how the council works, focussing on early help and prevention, and using every pound wisely to reinvest in a fairer, greener and more resilient Richmond”.
Councillor Roberts told the LDRS the council would “keep delivering the very well-received public services that residents rely on” over the next four years, while continuing to oppose the Government’s council funding reforms.
The authority has repeatedly said the Government’s decision to update funding rules to redistribute cash across councils, which came into force in April, will see it suffer steep cuts in central funding.
The council plans to carry out a wide-reaching transformation programme to save around £30million a year by 2029 – focussed on delivering better outcomes for residents while protecting council finances.
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