Lambeth Deputy Leader deletes X account after retweeting ‘wealthy white nimby’s’ post, issues no public apology

Lambeth’s Deputy Leader, Cllr Rezina Chowdhury, has quietly deleted her X account over the weekend – just as the Council finally responded to months of complaints about her social media behaviour.

At first glance, ditching X might look like an act of principle. Who wants to hang around on a platform run by a tech bro who has openly called for a UK race war?

But the timing tells another story.

Cllr Chowdhury’s disappearance from the site looks far more like an attempt to erase the evidence – a digital cover-up with the May 2026 local elections looming.

The controversy centres on a post made five months ago by Streatham Action, a local volunteer group, celebrating community work on Streatham Common Pool:

“Thanks to the volunteers painting Streatham Common Pool led by Stephen Hall using paint bought with a grant from us! Thanks @DecoratorsMate for donating the brushes.”

That innocuous post was met with a furious reply from another user:

“But a massive fuck you to anyone reliant on screen readers AGAIN from this ‘community’ group that is basically a load of wealthy white nimby’s in massive houses tutting about not being able to drive their cars recklessly with 20mph limits, LTNs and shock horror cycle lanes.”

Instead of condemning the language, Cllr Chowdhury liked the tweet – and then re-posted it to all of her followers.

Residents lodged multiple complaints, concerned that the Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council appeared to be endorsing racist and profane language.

For five months, those complaints were ignored. Only this weekend – at the exact same time Cllr Chowdhury’s X account vanished – did the Council finally issue responses.

The Labour Cabinet member, who holds the Sustainable Lambeth and Clean Air brief, sent one resident a grudging apology by email:

“I want to apologise for a retweet I shared several months ago which included inappropriate language. I removed the post when I was alerted to the complaint. I appreciate that this may have caused offence and apologise for any upset it caused.”

The apology has not been made public. And, tellingly, the Council’s responses to residents fail to say whether their complaints were officially upheld.

This isn’t the first time Cllr Chowdhury has been caught out but refused to say sorry. She was the Cabinet member responsible for the West Dulwich Low Traffic Neighbourhood – struck down by the High Court in June, with Lambeth denied permission to appeal.

Despite being found guilty of breaking the law, Cllr Chowdhury issued no public apology then either.

Meanwhile, the West Dulwich cock-up continues to pile up problems for Lambeth.

It was revealed this weekend that the Council has still failed to refund £1.3m in “unlawful” fines issued to drivers caught in the now-illegal scheme.

Whether Cllr Chowdhury shut down her account of her own accord or under instruction, the aim is clear: to shut down scrutiny of her online behaviour.

This whole episode shows how the Council in general – and Cllr Rezina Chowdhury in particular – avoids publicly admitting any wrongdoing.

Nothing to see here, etc.

But when Lambeth residents are still waiting for £1.3m in refunds, and when the Deputy Leader deletes her account rather than face up to her own retweets, the question lingers: who exactly is being held accountable?

You won’t be reading the answers on Cllr Chowdhury’s deleted X account.