The Liberal Democrats are predicting a “six-way fight” in some seats, a situation that could result in some “surprises”, says Grove Green candidate Arran Angus
By Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter
While there are currently no Liberal Democrat councillors in the borough, the party has seen relatively strong levels of polling in Leyton, Grove Green and Highams Hill.
The party has characterised Labour and the Conservatives as “totally out of touch” and criticised Reform leader Nigel Farage as being similar to US president Donald Trump.
Locally, they will focus on pushing through the Whipps Cross Hospital rebuild, which has now been delayed until 2032 at the earliest and has been “kicked down the road”.
Crime will also be a focus, with the party saying Labour has “broken its promises” by closing police counters in the borough.
Arran Angus is standing as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats in Grove Green. Like many candidates, Angus said the Lib Dems also want to see the roads improved.
Waltham Forest was rated one of the ten worst localities in the country for potholes in a recent Department for Transport (DfT) survey, and he said it felt like “a lot of the roads in the borough have been allowed to deteriorate”.
“We hear that coming up a lot,” he added.
The council disagreed with the DfT’s assessment and co‑deputy leader Clyde Loakes said it was “very difficult to understand how they have reached these conclusions” when the council had made consistent investments into transport and roads across the borough.
If the Lib Dems win the town hall, they would bring empty homes back into use by executing empty dwelling management orders.
“It’s a power that councils hold and Waltham Forest has never used it to take action on long‑term empty homes,” the Grove Green candidate added.
The Lib Dems won their biggest number of seats in the 2024 general election, returning 72 MPs. They exist nationally as one of the longest running third‑party options and alternatives for left‑leaning voters.
Campaigners have been vocal across the borough since the 2022 local elections, opposing Labour decisions despite having no elected representatives at Waltham Forest Town Hall.
Angus said he would be “wary of writing off either of the two big parties” but said the upcoming May election felt like a “multi‑party” contest and could see every party returning seats.
“It could be a six‑way fight and we could see councillors getting elected on 15% of the vote, which means we could get all kinds of oddities turning up,” he said.
Having a more fleshed‑out opposition and more threats to contend with “makes all councillors work harder,” the long‑time campaigner added.
“They’ll be looking over their shoulder a bit. They can’t take getting elected for granted and there’s no guarantee they’ll get elected next time.”
Read the Waltham Forest Liberal Democrats’ manifesto here
Read our interviews with each party standing in the election and find out their manifesto by reading our May issue – find out where to pick up a copy here
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