A new opposition group claiming to represent the "thousands of voters who didn't choose the Lib Dems and didn't want Reform" has been formed on Sutton Council following the Liberal Democrats' sweeping victory in this month's local elections.
New Group Aims to Provide Scrutiny
The newly merged two-person Labour and Beddington Independent Residents groups — now called the Labour Coop and Independent Group — say they aim to provide stronger scrutiny and accountability amid concerns over the Lib Dem administration's commanding majority. The group was formed over the weekend by the re-elected Labour member for Hackbridge, Dave Tchil, and re-elected Beddington Independent Nick Mattey. The only other councillors in Sutton who aren't Lib Dem are the two new Reform UK members who have already made it clear they won't be engaging or taking questions from the local press.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Cllr Tchil said: "This is a huge benefit to our residents as it gives us, as their councillors, a bigger voice at council, more scrutiny and committees. Our group gives thousands of voters who didn't choose the Lib Dems and didn't want Reform assurance that their voices will be heard at council."
Lib Dems Tighten Grip
Sutton's Liberal Democrats tightened their 40-year grip on the council at the local elections on May 7. The party, which has controlled the South London authority since 1986, won 51 of the council's 55 seats, completely wiping out the Conservatives' previous 20-strong opposition group. Cllrs Tchil and Mattey join the two Reform councillors elected in St Helier West as the only four opposition councillors remaining. The formation of the new group means that both Reform and the Labour Coop and Independent Group will act as the council's official opposition groups.
The new group has been accepted by the council, and Cllr Tchil expects the group to be fully established by the time of the annual council meeting on May 26. The pair will jointly lead the group in practice, while formally rotating the leadership role between them.
Motivation Behind the Merger
Cllr Tchil said the decision to form the new group came in response to the scale of the Tory wipeout, as well as a desire to represent voters who did not want the Lib Dems or Reform. He added that the group also aims to represent those on the left of politics in Sutton. The merger will also enable the two councillors to collaborate more effectively on shared Hackbridge and Beddington issues, including those relating to the nearby incinerator.
Of the election results, Cllr Tchil said: "It was a sorry sight to see some of the big Tory names, who just a month ago were full of swagger and confidence, left standing there in shocked silence." Following the loss of Sutton's 20 Conservative councillors, the Hackbridge councillor now questions whether all parts of the borough will continue to have a strong voice without the experienced opposition councillors who had previously represented them. "Without an opposition voice available for most of the borough, it is up to the Liberal Democrats to be self-critical and objective about that and I don't know if they will be," he said.
He suggested the real danger was not necessarily procedural change, but a weakening of robust internal criticism within the ruling party itself. He told the LDRS: "Which of the new Lib Dem councillors is going to be confident enough to know the system and challenge their seniors? It is very unlikely, at least for a couple of years anyway."
Expert Concerns Over Lack of Opposition
This view was shared by local government expert Professor Tony Travers, who described the election result as "extraordinary", having previously predicted Reform would perform better than they did. He told the LDRS: "Having no opposition publicly is not good, because you have no one to articulate locally a view against the policy of the council." Prof Travers also questioned whether the Lib Dem majority would remain united throughout the next four-year local election term. "What often happens, though, is the biggest group becomes factional, as you get opposition within the party group," he said. "Not every member of the group thinks the same. This happened in Newham in the past."
Cllr Tchil agreed with this prediction, saying: "People will soon begin to realise that their voice is perhaps quite limited and they are not getting the airtime they wanted. I think they will have a quiet 12 months, and then problems thereafter."
Reform UK Refuses to Engage
Despite an initial pledge to work collaboratively with Reform as fellow opposition members, Cllr Tchil told the LDRS that communication has since broken down, with emails allegedly going unanswered. Last week, the LDRS approached Sutton Reform for comment on how the party planned to hold Sutton's Liberal Democrat-run council to account, but our efforts to engage were rebuffed by the Chair of Sutton Reform Branch, Trevor Smith. Despite several cordial attempts to contact Reform councillors Janey Gould and Alison Long, Mr Smith instructed the LDRS to "desist" from contacting members of the party "henceforth", adding: "Neither myself, Alison, Janey nor anyone else from the Sutton branch of Reform UK wish to talk to you at the moment."
Lib Dems Defend Committee System
Responding to concerns about oversight and democratic challenge, a spokesperson for the Sutton Liberal Democrats said: "We're proud of the fact that we have a strong committee system in Sutton — it's something we defended when the Labour government tried to rip it away from us last year. That system means opposition groups have the opportunity to scrutinise key decisions, and there will be at least one opposition councillor on every committee. We think that is a good thing for democracy, and is certainly better than the leader-and-cabinet model most other councils in London have.
"Similarly, backbench councillors will continue to have far more say over how their area is run than they would in many other councils because of our strong system of local committees — and we have committed in our manifesto to devolving even more power this term over how local pots of money are spent to these local committees. For us, community politics trumps party politics. Scrutiny committees have constitutional obligations to review the work of the council independently and we expect them to continue to fulfil those obligations."
Contact Information for Opposition Councillors
Dave Tchil can be contacted by emailing dave.tchil@sutton.gov.uk, while Nick Mattey is available at Nick.Mattey@sutton.gov.uk. The two Reform councillors can be reached at janey.gould@sutton.gov.uk or alison.long@sutton.gov.uk.
