Brixton Buzz

As we reported yesterday, Martin Abrams has now been confirmed as the new leader of the Lambeth Green Party, after his party won 29 of Lambeth’s 63 seats, ending Labour’s 20‑year control.

The Greens have now issued a statement about his appointment:

Martin Abrams elected Leader of Lambeth Green Group

Martin Abrams, councillor for Streatham Hill East, has been chosen by his fellow councillors and party members as leader of Lambeth Green Group.

Ciara Alleyne and Natalie Kane have been elected as the Deputy Leaders of the Group.

Lambeth Green Party members have formally ratified Martin Abrams as the new leader of the Green Group of councillors, following a decisive vote on the party’s Helios platform that closed at 6pm today.

The referendum, required under Green Party rules to confirm the leadership chosen by the newly elected councillor group, returned a clear result: 360 members voted to approve the leadership team, with just 23 opting to re‑open nominations.

The ratified leadership team is:

Martin Abrams – Leader (Streatham Hill East)

Helen Hayes – MP for Dulwich and West Norwood – has yet to sign an open letter calling for Special Administration of Thames Water.

Thames Water’s creditors are currently negotiating with Ofwat for the future of the utility. As part of their takeover bid, they are asking to dodge fines until 2030, and for their pollution targets to be suspended or ‘significantly modified’ [2].

Ofwat’s Board are currently split over whether or not to accept the deal [3].

Brixton Buzz was in attendance for the official launch of Freight Brixton last Thursday – a large space above Pope’s Road which bills itself as ‘ London’s Largest Rooftop Venue .’

The sold out event featured a live set from Grammy-winning duo Blue Lab Beats. Here’s some photos from the night:

More info

Freight Brixton

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Brixton food & drink news: new restaurants, bars, clubs, cafes and more

There was a very cold wind from the north-east, but despite that many people attended the 2026 kite day on Streatham Common.

There were lots of kites in the sky the whole day, particularly children’s kites, which was very nice to see.

All photos © Roy Reed

More info

Streatham Kite Day website

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Streatham Kite Day chat

Archive Streatham Kite Day photos:

Streatham Kite Day 2024

Streatham Kite Day 2021

Streatham Kite Day 2019

Streatham Kite Day 2018

Streatham Kite Day 2017

Clapham & Brixton Hill MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Streatham’s Steve Reed have come out swinging in opposite corners as Labour figures across the party take sides over Keir Starmer’s leadership after last week’s local election rout.

Posting on social media in the wake of Saturday’s election count at the Oval cricket ground, Ribeiro-Addy was scathing:

“These results are a disaster for our party on both a local and national level.

For twenty years, Lambeth Labour behaved as though the borough belonged to them. Not represented. Not governed. Owned.

The Town Hall machine became so dominant, so tribal and so ruthlessly factional that opposition parties often looked less like political rivals and more like tolerated background noise.

Internal dissent was stamped on. Critics were frozen out. Residents raising concerns were frequently treated as irritants to be managed rather than people to be listened to. And now? It’s over.

The polls have closed.

Verification expected to start at 9.30am on Friday 8 May, and counting will begin after this.

In 2022, counting started mid to late morning and the first declaration was around 2.15pm.

The last declaration was shortly after 8pm.

This blog will update regularly as results come in.

The council will be running a live stream of the declarations.

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Lambeth Borough Council Elections – Thursday 7 May 2026

Lambeth has delayed answering Brixton Buzz’s Freedom of Information request on the dropped no-casino clause until after the 7 May election, leaving voters without answers on who recommended removal and whether gambling lobbyists were involved.

Brixton Buzz has been reporting since December 2025 on Lambeth’s quiet removal of the long-standing ‘No Casino’ resolution from its 2025–2028 Statement of Gambling Principles – despite public support for retention and only one gambling industry respondent supporting removal.

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.