Long standing Ladywell ward councillors Bill Brown and Liz Franklin-Johnston will be stepping down at next year’s May local government elections after the Labour Party selection panel stopped them from restanding.
The panel shortlisted six – Nan Saeed Marfo, Judith Barrett, Gloria Lambert-Morris, Jamie Luke, George Ryan and Chris Membu.
Ladywell’s third councillor Laura Cunningham was shortlisted for the Catford South ward but has now withdrawn.
Over the years the three councillors have built strong links with local residents and played important roles in a host of local campaigns – from the Playtower, to nurseries, ward boundaries, speeding traffic, housing and park amenities.
Several local residents expressed surprise at the moves. “They’ve always got involved in local issues and tried to support residents whenever they could. They were hard working. I’m a bit surprised,” said one.
“Maybe Labour think they are going to lose the ward to the Greens. But I can’t see how this will help,” said another.
The Ladywell ward is being targeted by the Green Party which missed out winning a council seat in 2022 by a handful of votes.
Green party councillor Liam Shrivastava, who defected from Labour in June, said it was bizarre that Labour had decided to bar two “hard working, community focused councillors from restanding”.