Green councillor rejects council tax claims before Myatt’s Fields by-election

A Lambeth Green councillor has rejected claims that the borough is weighing up whether to ask ministers for permission to push council tax above the 5% cap, three weeks before a by-election in Myatt’s Fields.

Zviko Chihoro, who speaks for the Lambeth Green Party, said councillors have taken no decision of any kind on council tax. He called the finances the Greens took over from Labour “an utterly shameful record”.

The claim came from an unnamed Lambeth Labour spokesperson, who said the Greens were “secretly trying to clobber” residents with large bills. It was then pushed out across Labour’s social media accounts.

Cross-party budget working group has not met

Councillor Chris Nicholson, his party’s finance spokesperson, said nobody had told him of any request to ministers about the cap. The cross-party budget working group, where a move of that sort would normally be argued out, has still not sat.

He was blunter about the group itself. “I am concerned that the Green Party just see the working group as window dressing,” he said, rather than a real attempt to work across party lines.

The row sits on top of a difficult set of books. Lambeth is carrying £116m of Exceptional Financial Support agreed with central government. That money is not a grant. The council has to borrow it or find it from capital receipts, and it then pays for everyday services.

How to vote in the Myatt’s Fields by-election

Polling day in the ward is 8 October. The by-election was called after the death of Councillor Annie Gallop.

Residents of the ward who are not already on the electoral register have to sign up by midnight on Tuesday 22 September 2026, through the government’s register to vote service.