Submitted by daniel on Thu, 07/05/2026 - 07:00 Picture Image Description Lambeth Council Leader Cllr Claire Holland faced a wave of online mockery in the run-up to polling day after social media posts highlighted screenshots indicating she has booked a place at next year’s MIPIM property fair in Cannes – the latest in a series of trips to the champagne-soaked Riviera jamboree. The screenshots, circulated on X from 2 May, appear to show Holland listed for a panel at the conference scheduled for 15-19 March 2027. “That’s confidence,” read the original post. The following day Green Party Cllr Martin Abrams standing in Streatham Hill East added: “Despite facing the prospect of losing dozens of seats at the election on Thursday… I hope MIPIM has a good refund policy.” Holland’s MIPIM history is well documented. New London Architecture published a video interview with her at MIPIM 2025 in which she discussed her “favourite stands of the festival.” LinkedIn coverage from MIPIM 2024 records her at the ‘topping out’ of Berkeley’s Oval Works in her own ward. Holland’s appearance at MIPIM 2025 was captured on video by New London Architecture, in which she discussed her “favourite stands” of the festival and made the case for investment in London. BB’s coverage of Lambeth at MIPIM stretches back to 2014, including a 2015 Freedom of Information request that confirmed four property developers had paid £20,000 to fund council officers’ attendance on a ‘gentrification jolly’. MIPIM is the international property and real estate trade fair held annually in Cannes – described by the Guardian as a ‘champagne-soaked jamboree where local authority chiefs are wined and dined by investors.’ Critics have long pointed to viability assessments commissioned for major schemes – citing ‘abnormal costs’ such as decanting tenants, remediation, infrastructure and post-Grenfell fire safety upgrades – as a mechanism by which affordable housing quotas are routinely cut below initial planning targets. Lambeth’s housing record could hardly be worse. The council holds the longest waiting list in the country, joint with Newham at 38,131 households. It is the most-complained-about council to the Housing Ombudsman, third worst in England for tenant satisfaction, and the only council in the country on a government emergency loan to shore up its housing finances. Around 5,000 households are in temporary accommodation. In 2024/25 Lambeth completed 41 new council homes; Southwark completed 689. Polling commissioned across the UK and locally ahead of today’s vote suggests Lambeth is set to go Green or ‘no oveall control’ putting Labour out of power for the first time in two decades. The Green Party is forecast to make significant gains in multiple London boroughs, while the Lib Dems who currently conrol three local authorities in the capital are mounting a serious challenge in Holland’s own ward, where long-time Oval resident Chris French is seen as a serious contender. Brixton Buzz approached Lambeth Council to confirm her 2027 booking. More Info May 7 local elections – Today! Who can I vote for in my area? Lambeth Lib Dems Lambeth Green Party manifesto Martin Abrams insta Join the local election discussion Lambeth Borough Council Elections – Thursday 7 May 2026 Web Link As polls open Claire Holland books swanky property porn trip to Cannes – while … Brixton Buzz