Lewisham: London borough voters prepare to elect new mayor

Laura said she wanted playground safety to improve while Anne is seeing more dirty streets as a result of cuts

Voters will go to the polls in Lewisham, south-east London, next week to choose a new mayor in a by-election.

Seven candidates are standing for election on Thursday and the campaign to win votes has been stepping up.

The by-election is being held after the former Labour mayor, Damien Egan, quit to run to become an MP for Kingswood in Bristol.

Lewisham is one of five London boroughs where voters directly elect an executive mayor to run things.

Under usual circumstances there would not be a local mayoral election there until 2026.

Labour's candidate, councillor Brenda Dacres, says her main priority is housing

In a windy street in Catford, I joined Labour's candidate, councillor Brenda Dacres, who was knocking on doors brandishing a red rosette and flanked by a troop of party activists with clipboards and leaflets.

'Decent home'

A Lewisham resident for more than 40 years, Ms Dacres is the borough's deputy mayor, but she has been filling in as the acting elected mayor since January, when Damien Egan quit to run for a parliamentary seat in Bristol in an election, which he won last month.

On her main priority of housing, Ms Dacres said: "I believe everyone should have a decent home. I want us to look at our current stock making sure we get those up to scratch."

Lewisham is a borough where Labour has long ruled the roost

However it was not just local issues coming up on the doorstep.

One Labour voter told us she would not vote Labour in the general election because of party leader Keir Starmer's approach on Gaza, but added she would still vote Labour in the upcoming local by-election.

Ms Dacres told me the conflict between Israel and Hamas was coming up with some voters in Lewisham but she insisted that Labour had "been consistent" about wanting a "humanitarian ceasefire" and "wanting an end to the fighting".

Lewisham is a borough where Labour has long ruled the roost.

The party has won every single seat on the council in local elections since 2018 and, two years ago, the then Labour-elected mayor Damien Egan got 58.1% of the vote. But that has not deterred the opposition.

Green Party Lewisham mayoral candidate Mike Herron said tackling homelessness was his priority

At a pub in Hither Green, I met the Green Party candidate Mike Herron, an academic, who has lived in the borough for 30 years.

Mr Herron said tackling homelessness was his priority. He said the Green Party would achieve this through "rent controls, building more social housing and cracking down on rogue landlords".

It is budget-setting time for councils and Lewisham, like many others, is raising council tax by the maximum 4.99% allowed.

Lewisham resident Paul has expressed concern over the cost-of-living crisis

Outside Hither Green train station I met Anne and Laura, who told me they were worried about the impact of budget pressures on local services.

Anne said: "Cutting back on an awful lot of the council's expenses is causing dirty streets."

While Laura, who has twins, added: "Children's playgrounds are quite unsafe as well, they could have quite a lot of work done to them."

Another local resident, Paul, who said he used to be a Labour voter, expressed concern about the cost-of-living crisis and told me he thought Labour had "taken the black vote for granted".

Siama Qadar, Conservative Lewisham mayoral candidate, says her main pledge is to tackle crime

He said he wanted to see more local politicians raising issues affecting the black community, like youth unemployment.

Handing out leaflets outside Grove Park station, I joined Conservative candidate Siama Qadar, who tells me she is "not a politician".

The entrepreneur grew up in Deptford and now runs a plant and dairy-based clothing company. Her main pledge is to tackle crime, promising to "bring down crime by its roots".

She told me she would remove fencing from parks to improve safety. She explained: "It's gonna bring so much more certainty to women and girls. If they have to run, they can run in any direction."

Chris Maines, the Lib Dems' candidate, says he would have spent the money for the by-election on more trees and a library

At a coffee shop in Blackheath, I caught up with the Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Maines, who used to be a local councillor before the Lib Dems were wiped out on Lewisham Council back in 2014.

He is critical of the former Labour mayor Damien Egan for quitting, which he said had caused the council to waste money on an unnecessary "vanity by-election".

Mr Maines said: "It's costing £635,000 for this by-election, simply because one person decided that they wanted to advance their career, and that's not a really a good use of public money."

He added that he would have spent the money on "more street trees, a library in central Lewisham".

"I'd like to see lots of the voluntary sector given more resources because they are really picking up where the council is missing out."

The other candidates standing in the Lewisham by-election are:

John Hamilton, of the Workers Party of Britain, who has promised to reopen all libraries and community centres

Independent candidate Nick Long, who wants to abolish the role of elected mayor

Maureen Martin, of the Christian Peoples Alliance, who wants to fight knife crime

The vote will be held on Thursday, 7 March and anyone attending a polling station will have to take accepted forms of photographic identification, like a passport of a driving licence, to be allowed to vote.

Full list of candidates (listed alphabetically)

• Brenda Dacres - Labour

• John Hamilton - Workers Party of Britain

• Michael (Mike) Herron - Green Party

• Nick Long - Independent

• Chris Maines - Liberal Democrats

• Maureen Martin - Christian Peoples Alliance

• Siama Qadar - Conservative

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]