Borough's First Two Green Councillors Narrowly Avoid Removal
Labour defectors attend just one meeting since party switch
Councillors Trey Campbell-Simon and Liz Collins
March 11, 2026
The borough’s first two Green Party councillors have only attended one meeting each since defecting from Labour last summer despite claiming they would offer residents “real representation”.
Cllr Trey Campbell-Simon and Cllr Liz Collins have just held onto their seats with Hammersmith and Fulham Council rules stipulating any member who misses all meetings over a six month period is removed.
As such the pair have been entitled to continue receiving their council allowance, which for 2025/26 was set at £12,347 to be paid in 12 monthly instalments.
A Green Party spokesperson acknowledged there have been “ongoing issues” with local councillors and that neither is standing in the forthcoming May elections.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) asked if this was the councillors’ or the party’s choice but had not received a response at the time of publication.
On July 22 last year Cllr Campbell-Simon and Cllr Collins made Hammersmith and Fulham history when they left the ruling Labour group to become the borough’s first two Green Party members.
At a press event in Eel Brook Common Cllr Campbell-Simon, who represents the Walham Green ward, told the LDRS: “Locally, the Hammersmith and Fulham Labour group have a culture of control and all of the backbench councillors are supposed to do as the leader says and not have an opinion. I stood on a platform of speaking up for my residents, and I wasn’t allowed to do that locally.”
Cllr Collins, representing Ravenscourt, added she left Labour because of what she claimed was a “top-down, toxic culture”.
She said that when she saw the Green Party’s policies accepting varying opinions from its members, “I started to realise more and more that that wasn’t possible in Labour”.
Cllr Campbell-Simon described the two defections as a “momentous moment”, which he claimed would offer residents the opportunity for “real representation and accountability”.
In the seven-plus months since then however the councillors have only attended a single meeting each.
For Cllr Campbell-Simon, who sits on the Economy, Arts, Sports, and Public Realm Policy and Accountability Committee as well as Full Council, his sole appearance was at a Cabinet meeting in December.
Cllr Campbell-Simon is not a Cabinet member and does not appear to have contributed to the meeting, though is noted as having been present.
Regarding Cllr Collins, she is recorded as having attended a Children and Accountability Policy and Accountability Committee in November.
The LDRS has also spoken to a resident in Cllr Campbell-Simon’s ward, who said he had recently appeared to keep a “low profile” and has reportedly not been seen much locally.
Cllr Jose Afonso, Leader of the Conservative opposition group, said: “The Greens defected from Labour saying the Labour administration in Hammersmith and Fulham was failing the people it was elected to serve, so we were looking forward to hearing more about that. But their approach since July shows they are not a serious force for delivering the change the borough so desperately needs.”
Cllr Afonso added a number of Labour councillors were also not present at the recent Budget Full Council meeting alongside the Greens, and that at the May elections residents will have a choice between a “hardworking Conservative administration that will have their priorities as its mission” or a “Labour-Green coalition of chaos”.
Cllr Callum Nimmo, Hammersmith and Fulham Labour’s Deputy Whip, said,“These are perilous times for local people. Being a councillor here isn’t a career step, it’s a calling to change the world by making Hammersmith and Fulham a stronger, safer and kinder place to live for all our residents. That takes dedication and knowing how to work through the system to get things done.”
Cllr Nimmo continued to list local initiatives implemented by the administration, such as free home care and its extensive cost-of-living support, adding the Labour group has “a record of defying the odds to win for our residents”.
Questions on Cllr Campbell-Simon and Cllr Collins’s attendance records were put to them directly as well as to the Green Party press office.
A spokesperson for the party responded, saying, “The local Green Party are aware of on-going issues with Hammersmith and Fulham councillors and are managing the problems internally for the best of the residents, councillors and Green Party members. The two councillors will not be standing as Green Party candidates for re-election in May 2026. We thank you for your patience and understanding as we work this through.”
Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter