Labour councillors should ‘hang their heads in shame’ over disgraceful fire safety record

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Labour councillors should ‘hang their heads in shame’ over disgraceful fire safety record - Brixton Buzz
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Lib Dem spokesperson Cllr Chris Nicholson delivered a damning appraisal of Lambeth’s former council leadership, telling Labour councillors in the chamber that 20 years in charge had left thousands of homes without basic fire safety checks and failing decent housing standards.

Nicholson, councillor for Clapham Common and Abbeville made the remarks at Lambeth’s first Cabinet meeting under new Green leadership on 1st July saying:

“It is a disgrace that over 5,000 council homes do not have a current fire risk assessment and that after 20 years of a Labour administration of the council that over 2,500 council homes do not meet Decent Homes standards.

If I were them I would hang my head in shame.”

– Cllr Chris Nicholson

Nicholson, a former Leader of Kingston Council who chairs the board of a social and supported housing association, grounded his verdict in the Q4 2025/26 Outcomes Framework Performance report – presented to the same meeting and covering the council’s final full year under Labour.

The comments were directed to Labour councillors observing from the public gallery, including Cllr Danial Adilypour (above), councillor for Streatham Common and Vale since 2014 and Cabinet Member for Housing before Labour’s historic loss of control in Lambeth at May’s local government elections.

The figures come days before Labour contests Clapham Park and Streatham St Leonard’s, seeking to reclaim seats the party lost to the Greens on 7th May.

Speaking at a recent rally in Clapham Park, where party leader Zack Polanski met councillors and supporters, Michael Ball, a Green Party candidate standing in the ward, said that Lambeth Labour’s records on maintenence, repairs and on council house building, were among the worst in the country – and laid the blame sqaurely on Labour’s private equity ethos.

“I want to see Lambeth actually building social homes and local wealth, we need a better deal on this estate, instead of begging for scraps from private developers.”

– Michael Ball, Green Party candidate in Clapham Park

More Info

Local by-elections 9 July 2026

Clapham Park

Streatham St Leonards

Feature image from 2022 by Mike Urban

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