Sadiq Khan has overseen people being ‘priced out of London boroughs’ – Green London Assembly member Benali Hamdache interview
"We haven't seen the amount of affordable housing that we need to see."
Sadiq Khan’s time as mayor of London has seen people be ‘priced out of London boroughs, a Green Party London Assembly has argued. Benali Hamdache made the comments in an interview with LFF at this Green Party’s autumn conference in Brighton.
Asked what he viewed as Khan’s failings as mayor of London, Hamdache said: “We haven’t seen the amount of affordable housing that we need to see. We are seeing Londoners priced out of boroughs. We’re seeing primary schools shut down because families just can’t afford to have kids.
“London is increasingly feeling like somewhere that isn’t enabling people’s dreams to live a happy, secure life in this city. And I think we will look back at a mayor who has failed to address that tide.”
Elsewhere in the interview, he added: “The biggest thing on the horizon is the London plan. For the next 10 years, Sadiq Khan is going to lay down the planning policy that determines whether or not we get enough affordable housing for London. And right now, we have a plan that is selling out to developers that is neither meeting the need and also isn’t really viable either.
“And it’s full of contradictions, and so leading that kind of charge to say that Londoners deserve a London plan that meets their needs should be pretty uncontroversial.”
Unsurprisingly, given Hamdache’s role as a London Assembly member means that he is currently spending quite a lot of time in Camden. That borough contains the Holborn and St Pancras parliamentary constituency. Voters there will be going to the polls on October 8 to elect a new MP following Keir Starmer’s resignation, with the Green Party leader Zack Polanski in the running.
What does Hamdache make of the Greens’ chances in the by-election?
Hamdache told LFF: “You’ll be surprised to hear I’ve spent quite a lot of time in Camden over the last month. And I think it’s a hugely competitive election.
“And I think just saying that should be recognised as so seismic. Keir Starmer in 2017 under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership got 70 per cent of the vote in that constituency. So the idea that the Greens are in the running is hugely positive for our party’s prospects.
“I’ve met lots of residents who I think feel quite disenchanted by politics overall. They’re dealing with a broken lift, damp, mould, estates that don’t feel look after. They feel like Camden is pushing them out in lots of different ways.”
Hamdache would go on to say that he thinks the Greens can win the constituency. He said: “I think we can win. I think it is competitive.” He later added that it would be wrong to count either Labour or the Greens out in the by-election.
He told LFF: “I do think anyone would be wrong to count out either party. I’m confident to say that the Tories will come behind Reform, that the Lib Dems won’t be a presence.
Hamdache became a London Assembly member in May this year, following Zoë Garbett being elected as mayor of Hackney and subsequently resigning her seat on the Assembly.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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