London Councillor Defects to Greens From ‘Fascistic’ Labour

A London councillor has defected to the Green party after leaving “fascistic” Labour.

Sam Foster, the former chair of Southwark’s Housing Scrutiny Commission, will now represent the Greens as a councillor in central London’s Faraday ward. He is the second member of Southwark council to defect to Zack Polanski’s party in the past month. 

Foster told Novara Media that he finds “hope” in the Greens, and called the Labour party a “threat” to the Southwark residents he represents because of cuts to winter fuel payments and “putting profit before people when it comes to housing”. 

Foster added: “Diverse migrant communities are at the heart of this area and the government’s aping of far-right policy and rhetoric on migration directly threatens them as well. The only authentic thing about the government’s politics is its unpleasantness.” 

In a statement announcing his move on 5 December, Foster accused Labour of “betraying its historic mission” by announcing “a fascistic policy towards asylum seekers”, scrapping jury trials and watering down its workers’ rights agenda. 

“I stood for election in 2022 as a socialist fighting for a redistribution of wealth and power,” he said. “Where Labour is now the enemy of this struggle, the Greens have embraced it.”

The government has faced anger within its own party for scrapping protections from day one for workers as part of the flagship employment rights bill. It has also been heavily criticised over planned Denmark-style changes to asylum policy, which would end the permanent status of refugees, forcing them to reapply to remain in Britain every two-and-a-half years, and could see jewellery and other valuables seized from asylum seekers to cover the cost of processing their cases. 

The government announced earlier this week that it would be scrapping jury trials for crimes with sentences of less than three years.

Foster’s defection follows that of former Southwark Labour chair and Rotherhithe councillor Kath Whittam, who joined the Greens on 5 November. 

A Labour member of 42 years, Whittam resigned in July after a ‘summer of chaos’ in Southwark council. In a frank email to colleagues, Whittam likened herself to a “momma bear” who had been “shot in the head”.

Novara Media reported in July on allegations the Labour party had rigged an election to block leftwing candidate James McAsh from leading the council.

McAsh’s June victory was overturned by Labour HQ and his rival, property developer lobbyist Sarah King, installed instead. Three trade unions – Unison, Unite and GMB – described the process as “an assault on local party democracy” in a letter to the local Labour party. 

Foster told Novara Media that over the summer, “it became clear that Labour’s authoritarian character meant the Labour party in Southwark would not be permitted to run its own affairs, as they overturned our leadership election to install a property developer lobbyist as head of the council.

“In such circumstances, I felt it was impossible for me to remain a Labour councillor and it was natural for me to join the Green Party to fight for Faraday residents with hope, honestly and with integrity.”

Labour’s troubles in Southwark continued last month when the council’s cabinet member for housing resigned after breaking housing rules in the same way as chancellor Rachel Reeves, who admitted to renting out her south London home without the £945 licence required by the local council.

Michael Situ was forced to quit on 13 November after admitting that he did not obtain the correct permissions to let out his Peckham properties. Echoing Reeves, Situ said he found his letting agent had “allowed these properties to be let out without the appropriate licences”. 

Foster said: “People in Southwark are crying out for an alternative to the chaos, misery and bigotry of the Labour government, the Conservatives and Reform. The Greens offer just that with a powerful message of social, economic and ecological justice.

“​​The Green party proposed a radical manifesto at the last general election and in Zack Polanski they have an outspoken, principled leader who understands the need for a transformation of society in favour of the many, and away from super-rich bosses and landlords.”

Kelly Shields, co-chair of Southwark Greens, told Novara Media: “The Labour party is not on the side of working people, and is choosing big business and pandering to the far-right. We need real hope and real change and that is why Zack and the Green party have skyrocketed in the last few months. 

“In Southwark, momentum is building and we will bring in a green wave of councillors in May to challenge Labour’s failures and put everyday people at the heart of our strategy.”

Bristol city council councillor Alsayed Al-Maghrabi defected to the Greens from Labour in October, while in Swindon’s borough council, four councillors – Rob Heath, Tom Butcher, Ian Edwards and Repi Begum – made the same move within a month. 

In November, Wales saw two notable council defections, with former opposition leader on Carmarthenshire council Robert James and former leader of Caerphilly council Sean Morgan joining the Greens.

The highest-profile defection to the Greens to date came on 20 November when former Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, announced he would seek selection as the Green candidate in his former seat after allegedly experiencing “aggressive and bullying” behaviour from his former party.

Following his defection, Russell-Moyle was criticised for comments he made on GB News in the wake of Israel’s indiscriminate pager attacks on Lebanon and Syria in 2024, calling them “targeted killings of belligerents” that were “far better” than Israel’s bombing of Gaza. The pager attacks killed at least 32 people and maimed or injured 3,250, including 200 critically. They were condemned by UN experts as a “terrifying” violation of international law. 

A voting intention poll from 5 November put the Green party on 18%, second to Reform UK on 33% and three points ahead of Labour on 15%, according to Find Out Now.