Ex-Labour councillor Martin Abrams defects to Lambeth Greens – party now becomes official opposition at Town Hall

Former Lambeth Labour councillor Martin Abrams has defected to the Lambeth Green Party in a move that reshapes the political map at Lambeth Town Hall and leaves the Greens as the official opposition to Labour’s overwhelming majority.

Abrams will be formally welcomed to the party later this morning by the newly elected Green Party leader, Zack Polanski, at the Town Hall.

The switch is politically significant. With Abrams joining sitting councillors Scott Ainslie, Nicole Griffiths and Paul Valentine, the Greens now have four councillors, overtaking the Liberal Democrats on three. Lambeth Labour remains all-dominant with 55 seats, maintaining its status as a one-party borough.

But the new arithmetic has immediate implications. As the official opposition, the Greens are now entitled to demand a reorganisation of council committee structures.

Seats on committees are allocated proportionally to party size, and recognition as the main opposition also opens the door to further access to officers and political group funding.

Abrams’ break with Labour began in February 2024. He and former Labour cabinet member Sonia Winifred were both suspended after refusing to toe the party line on a Green Party motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Lambeth Labour’s whips had ordered every councillor in the group to vote against the motion, ensuring it was shut down before it could be debated properly. Abrams and Winifred ignored the instruction, backing the ceasefire proposal on humanitarian grounds.

The response was swift and brutal. Both councillors were summoned before what was labelled a “show trial” by the Labour group, in proceedings described at the time as heavy-handed, undemocratic and designed to silence dissent.

Each was handed a three-month suspension. Winifred resigned immediately, triggering a by-election in Knight’s Hill ward that Labour managed to hold. She later joined the Greens as a rank-and-file member, though she no longer sits on the council.

Abrams chose to stay on in his Streatham St Leonard’s seat, but the suspension deepened his rift with Labour and set the stage for his eventual departure.

In June 2025, Brixton Buzz revealed that Abrams had been blocked from re-standing as a Labour candidate in the 2026 local elections. Despite years of service in Streatham St Leonard’s, the Labour leadership refused to allow him onto the candidate list – a move widely seen as punishment for his stance on Gaza.

The decision ensured that even if Abrams had wanted to stay with Labour, his future in the party locally was already finished.

In August, Abrams finally quit Labour altogether. In a searing resignation statement, he cited the party’s stance on Gaza, internal bullying – including allegations that he had been called a “fake Jew” by Labour colleagues – and what he described as “pandering to the far right” as reasons for his departure.

At the time, Abrams accused Labour of silencing those who spoke out against the atrocities in Gaza, tolerating antisemitic abuse within its ranks, and scapegoating vulnerable communities in a way that echoed right-wing talking points.

Abrams’ move also carries significance at ward level. Streatham St Leonard’s is now an all-Green ward, with Abrams joining sitting Green councillors Scott Ainslie and Nicole Griffiths.

It follows the Greens’ breakthrough in May 2025, when Cllr Paul Valentine captured the Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction seat from Labour in a by-election – a symbolic blow in a ward long considered Labour territory.

With four councillors spread across two wards, the Greens now have a credible base in Lambeth, stretching from Streatham to Herne Hill.

In his statement today, Abrams laid out why he had chosen to cross the floor:

“Today we have a Labour Council in Lambeth, a Labour Mayor of London and a Labour Government, and after 14 years of Tory destruction there is simply no justification whatsoever locally or nationally, to inflict further cuts, austerity and hardship on people that are already struggling. Austerity and cuts to public services are a political choice.

Everybody should have the right to live in safe, warm, dry and genuinely affordable homes and at a time of housing emergency I want to be in a party that prioritises building council housing whilst protecting, cherishing and taking much better care of Lambeth’s existing council housing stock and everyone that lives in them, something Lambeth have systematically failed to do.

I want to be in a party that prioritises listening to our whole community not one that shuts down and tries to silence anyone with a difference of opinion.

I want to be part of a party that calls a genocide a genocide and does not purge, bully, block or silence those that stand up and speak out against the atrocities happening in Gaza.

I want to be in a party that stands up to the far-right not panders to them by scapegoating and persecuting the most vulnerable in our society.

I want to be in a party of hope for a fairer, more equal and greener future that does not flinch away from talking about shifting wealth and power from the billionaire class to the working class.

That party is the Green Party and I am proud to be joining them today.”

Zack Polanski, the Green Party’s newly elected leader and a London Assembly member, praised Abrams’ decision and linked it to a wider trend of disillusioned Labour figures moving to the Greens.

“A huge Green welcome to Councillor Martin Abrams, the latest in a string of former Labour councillors in London to have discovered that their values and priorities are best expressed by the Green Party.

Martin is not just a fellow Jewish politician – he’s been a really clear and consistent voice on justice for the Palestinians. I’m really proud to see him now finding a home in the Green Party.”

The defection is more than symbolic. For the first time in years, Labour faces an opposition at the Town Hall with the numbers and status to demand a seat at the table.

The Greens will now be pressing for fair representation on council committees, along with access to resources and officers that come with being the official opposition.

For a borough long described as a one-party state, today marks a significant shift. Whether Lambeth Labour is prepared to acknowledge the new reality remains to be seen.

In a separate development, Lambeth Labour has suspended all selections for candidates in the 2026 local elections, due to be held in May.

Brixton Buzz understands the pause is linked to a legal challenge from one of the prospective candidates, though the party has not confirmed details.

An email circulated to Labour hopefuls, sets out the suspension in stark terms:

“I am writing to update you on a significant development in the Lambeth candidate selection process.

As some of you may already have heard, the Labour Party Governance and Legal Team has directed Lambeth LGC to delay shortlisting and selection meetings until further notice. Cancellation notices for notified meetings are already being sent out.

We apologise for taking a little while to let you know formally. We didn’t want to rush in without full information and have been waiting for confirmation that this means ALL meetings, shortlisting and selections and, yes, I’m afraid it does.

We’re sure you’re probably finding this very frustrating. After the delays we experienced earlier in the year, we know you’ll be disappointed.

We’re really sorry that it’s happening. It is very stressful for all of you, but especially for those candidates who have been patiently waiting for your opportunity for selection.

Please be assured, though, that we will maintain close communication with London Region. As soon as we have agreement to start the process again, we’ll let you know.”

The suspension means Labour is effectively frozen in place on candidate selections across the borough, with the May 2026 election clock counting down.