The Green Party did well in the 2026 local elections, especially in London. In Ealing, for example, it got five new councillors. But if it had worked together with local left-wing independents, the borough could have gained at least 14 extra progressive councillors, pulling significant power away from Labour. Instead, Labour kept control.

Indy-Green collaboration could make a massive difference in Ealing

In the local elections, the Green Party focused on the less diverse and more expensive Hanwell Broadway ward. All three of its candidates defeated Labour there. Ealing Community Independents (ECI) candidates, meanwhile, stood in poorer and more diverse wards, and were particularly strong in and around Southall.

ECI spoke to the Greens before the election and “agreed not to stand in three of their highest priority wards” (like Hanwell Broadway), leader Craig Smith told us previously. But in the vast majority of wards where ECI candidates were actively campaigning, Smith said, the Greens put up paper candidates who did no visible campaigning.

The result of vote splitting in most of these wards was a Labour victory.

ECI did better than the Greens in:

• Dormers Wells. Here, a combination of the top ECI and Green votes would have beaten two of Labour’s winning candidates.
• Southall Broadway. This was as close as ECI got to beating Labour, and ECI was its main left-wing challenger. If Green votes had gone to ECI, the ward would now have at least one ECI councillor.
• Southall Green. ECI’s candidates all got more than a thousand votes each, and could have overtaken at least one of Labour’s winning candidates if Green voters had opted for ECI.
• Southall West. Again, a combination of ECI and Green votes could have defeated at least one Labour candidate.

If there had been an agreement to combine campaign strengths and work together, it probably wouldn’t have just benefited ECI either. The Greens could potentially have gained even more councillors too. Because if ECI votes had gone to the Greens in the following wards, the two could have beaten numerous Labour candidates:

• Northfields. Green paper candidates all got over a thousand votes each. And if there’d been a deal with ECI, a combination of each party’s votes would have beaten all three Labour candidates.
• South Acton. The same was true here. Again, a cooperative campaign could have wiped the floor with Labour.
• Perivale. A joint campaign could have beaten at least one Labour candidate.
• Greenford Broadway. The same was true here. The ward could’ve had one extra progressive councillor.
• Norwood Green. ECI and the Greens both had clear support here, and together they could have elected at least one councillor.

In total, an ECI-Green deal could have secured the election of 14 extra left-wing councillors in Ealing.

Whether it was a central diktat from Green Party HQ or something else that prevented an ECI-Green agreement, it was a tanking Labour that reaped the benefits and local people who suffered. In one ward, for example, people are still feeling the consequences of a Green paper candidate accidentally winning.

By-election following ‘paper candidate’ resignation

In May’s local election, North Acton ward was a straight battle between Labour and the Greens (partly because ECI didn’t stand). Greens didn’t actively campaign in the ward, though. And after a paper candidate actually won, he quickly resigned. This sparked a by-election, which will take place on 25 June.

The local Green Party, whose candidate will be Marijn van de Geer, has promised:

we will be running a full campaign to try and keep the seat.

However, as a response to the Green Party’s controversial habit of standing paper candidates, ECI has decided to put up a challenge in North Acton. Craig Smith himself will be standing as the ECI candidate. And he told the Canary why, explaining that:

Every candidate that Ealing Community Independents puts up for election is serious about wanting to fight for the rights of local people and vulnerable communities. Every one of us has a track record in community organising, local activism and trade unionism.

The other parties are playing political games with the lives of North Acton residents: the Greens don’t deserve a second go in a by-election caused by their accidental councillor resigning after just 10 days; Ealing Labour are desperate to get their former chief whip re-elected despite residents rejecting him elsewhere in the borough on May 7.

North Acton deserves better than politics as usual. Ealing Community Independents is a serious local movement, with a serious local candidate focused on everyday life in North Acton – not party games that revolve around Westminster.

He added that ECI had approached the Greens ahead of the by-election to discuss a potential deal, but without success:

For this by-election, once again Ealing Community Independents tried to reach agreement with the local Green Party. The Greens – having inadvertently caused the by-election by fielding a paper candidate on May 7 who resigned immediately after getting elected – could have sat out this by-election in favour of a serious, progressive alternative in the shape of Ealing Community Independents. We will continue to try to reach agreement for future election cycles with the local Green Party, but our efforts have so far been unsuccessful.

North Acton “is not getting a fair deal”

Speaking about the local issues in North Acton, Smith said:

North Acton is undergoing massive and rapid change – the terminus area for HS2, home to Old Oak Common Development Corporation, and data centres appearing all over Park Royal.

Billions of pounds in investment are pouring into the area – but where are the new GP appointments, school places and community facilities? Residents see cranes everywhere, but the community is not getting a fair deal; they are living through rapid urban change, intense housing pressure, high renter turnover, construction disruption, transport pressure and concerns around safety and cleanliness.

All this means a new kind of fight – not against development, but for development that genuinely serves the interests of ordinary people living in the area. And a new kind of fight needs a new kind of local politics.

For him, this means a vote for Ealing Community Independents.

The Greens, on the other hand, will hope to convince local voters to give them a second chance.

Whatever happens in the by-election, though, one thing is clear from Ealing’s local elections. The fewer deals Greens make with left-wing independents, the fewer progressives there’ll be in government, and the longer Labour (or other right-wing parties) will be able to keep hold of power.

Featured image via AsianStandard

By Ed Sykes

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