Labour defector now quits Lib Dems in move from Greenwich to Wales

Greenwich’s only Liberal Democrat councillor has announced his resignation after being the first elected member to represent the party in the borough for 14 years.

Chris Lloyd, who represented the West Thamesmead ward, said he had left the borough in a summer move to Wales, for family reasons.

He served as a Labour councillor for nearly 10 years, representing the former Peninsula ward and later West Thamesmead from 2022. He resigned his party membership in December 2023.

Mr Lloyd previously explained that his exit from the Labour Party was due to a complaint regarding homophobia he made to the group not being ‘satisfactorily’ progressed or resolved.

He stood as an independent councillor after leaving Labour before joining the Lib Dems in May this year, becoming the first elected representative of the party in Greenwich since 2010.

The resignation follows Mr Lloyd’s husband, Labour’s Sammy Backon, stepping down in September, with Conservative councillor Charlie Davis having been elected to represent Eltham Town & Avery Hill in the ward’s by-election last month.

Mr Lloyd first moved to Greenwich over 20 years ago and said he was proud of the work he had done in the council. This included protecting the old rose garden on Tunnel Avenue from disposal and contributing towards the approval of hundreds of new council homes while on the planning board.

The resignation will spark a by-election for the former councillor’s West Thamesmead seat. It will mark the fourth by-election this year for Greenwich council, following Cllr Davis’ victory last month.

Another by-election is scheduled for the Shooters Hill ward on November 14 after former council leader Danny Thorpe resigned at the end of September.

Pictured top: Cllr Chris Lloyd, shown at a planning meeting for Greenwich council in September 2023 (Picture: Greenwich council)