Lucy Giles

Local London News

Salamander News •

Save Lewisham Shopping Centre campaign sees new opportunity with Greens in power

With a Green mayor and councillors that pledged support before the elections, and a compulsory purchase order as leverage, campaigners hope to slow down plans for the development and buy time.

Anti-gentrification campaign Save Lewisham Shopping Centre has built its public profile fighting the large-scale development of Lewisham shopping centre.

The development is set to go ahead, but campaigners are calling on the new Green-led council, many of whose members endorsed the campaign, to slow down...
South West Londoner •

WATCH: Are pubs in south west London staying open for late-night World Cup matches?

The government granted emergency licences for all pubs across the country to stay open until 5am ahead of the England‘s World Cup game against Mexico on Sunday.


The kick-off time was scheduled for 1am, later than many of the other matches.


Being a Sunday night coupled with all the logistics of staffing for a late-night shift they are seldom used to, SW Londoner wanted to find out if pubs were planning to take advantage of the relaxing of rules. 


For some the decision was obvious, but fo...
South West Londoner •

Number of London households waiting for social housing spirals

The number of households on the social housing waitlist in London has increased by 30% in the past 10 years, data from the London Assembly shows. 


As of December 2025 there were 341,421 households on the waitlist across London, compared to 263,493 a decade prior.


The increase of households on the social housing waitlist in London is four times higher than the 7% increase across the whole of England.


This wait has had knock-on effects and has left many families that are waiting for socia...
South West Londoner •

WATCH: Folk revival across London as May Day celebrated in Whitechapel | South West Londoner

Over the past few years there has been somewhat of a folk revival taking place across London.


Google searches for ‘folk London’ are at a five year high and more and more folk-themed event posters on Instagram and across the city have been advertised.


Musician and model Florence Rose turned to make folk music in recent years and started organising folk events called Turning of the Seasons in 2025.


At her May Day event at the George Tavern in Whitechapel she said she had noticed an incre...
South West Londoner •

Latin Americans in the UK campaigning for recognition | South West Londoner

Latin American campaign groups in the UK have been fighting in another round for recognition from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) ahead of the 2031 census.


The Coalition of Latin Americans in the UK (CLAUK) is awaiting a response from the ONS after the consultation for additional ethnicity needs for the 2031 census closed in February this year.


CLAUK campaigned for recognition ahead of the previous 2021 census but the Latin American identity was not included.


Beyond this CLAUK a...
Salamander News •

Zack Polanski congratulates new Lewisham mayor

Green Party leader Zack Polanski arrived in Downham on Friday evening to congratulate new Green mayor Liam Shrivastava.

An exhausted but clearly delighted Zack Polanski arrived at Haberdashers' Knights Academy in Downham after the mayoral count to congratulate the new mayor.

Zack Polanski and Liam Shrivastava with Green party members and supporters.

Sign-up for our free weekly newsletter - Salamander News in your inbox
Salamander News •

Lewisham election count - in pictures

Joy on one side of the hall and despair on the other as the Green Party overthrew Labour's majority.

From top left: 1. Peter Bernards, the single Labour councillor elected in Forest Hill ward congratulates new Green colleague. 2. Evelyn result declared.

3.Labour supporters applaud Hither Green result. 4. Labour supporters awaiting next result.

On left, 1. new Green councillor Wellington Gil, elected for New Cross Gate and the first Latin American councillor elected to Lewisham council. 2. Gre...
South West Londoner •

Protests erupt as Lambeth Council approves development of International House | South West Londoner

Protests erupted in Brixton last night over Lambeth Council’s decision to approve the development of International House and the site next door.


The campaign group Save International House were joined by tenants of the building to protest on the evening the decision on the planning application was made. 


Save International house campaigners said: “Giving billionaire property developers everything they want, in the hope that something will be returned from those enormous profits, has failed...
South West Londoner •

Local campaigners hit out at Lambeth Council for the sale of International House | South West Londoner

A campaign group has criticised Lambeth Council for a redevelopment project which will see the eviction of over 100 not-for-profit organisations, community initiatives, and charities. 


Save International House also criticized the council for the sale to London Square, a property development company owned by Aldar Properties, which is in turn part owned by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investment Company.


Spokespeople from the campaign group told the South West Londoner that...
Salamander News •

Independent Kayode Damali launches bid for Mayor of Lewisham | Salamander News

Damali, the candidate who calls himself the 'tiktok mayor', launched his campaign to become mayor in the local elections on 7 May.

Damali hosted a combined launch and birthday party on 27 March at Cube Club and Lounge in Catford.

In a speech at the launch Damali said: “I left Lewisham, travelled the world, went up to university, went all over, really trying to discover myself, find my meaning, find what I stand for, and it turns out it was right here in Lewisham this whole time.”

“One thing I...
Salamander News •

Liam Shrivastava: 1000 new social rent homes and unequivocally pro-refugee

Lewisham Green mayoral candidate Liam Shrivastava has plans for community-led house-building, delivering 1000 social homes and calls out the Labour government immigration raids.

Liam Shrivastava is the Green Party mayoral candidate for Lewisham. He is currently a councillor for New Cross ward.

He was elected as a Labour councillor in 2022 and defected to the Greens in June 2025.

He also works in the Migrant Futures Institute at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Salamander met with Liam in Cr...
South West Londoner •

Hounslow Council announces new art prize | South West Londoner

Hounslow Council has announced a new arts award which invites artists to submit their work for an exhibition at Hogarth’s House. 


The winner of the main category of The Hogarth Prize will be awarded a six-week solo show at Hogarth’s House in 2027 and a £3,000 cash prize


The prize is open to any artists: amateur, emerging, and established. There is no set theme and a range of artistic mediums are welcomed, as long as the work can be presented in a wall-hanging format.


Anna Booth is a mem...
Salamander News •

'We made Lewisham Green' - Liam Shrivastava is new Lewisham mayor

Ecstatic Greens celebrate historic win, taking mayor from Labour for first time since role established in 2002.

After a fierce battle, Greens were overjoyed as Liam Shrivastava was declared mayor of Lewisham with 35,265 votes.

Labour candidate Amanda De Ryk came second with 30,374 votes.

Thanking the people of Lewisham, Liam Shrivastava said "I do not take this lightly and I will not let you down"

Referring to his reputation as a trouble maker at the previously Labour dominated council, he...
Salamander News •

Lewisham elections live: mayor and councillor results

Live reporting on Lewisham's election for mayor and councillors

20:25 This blog is now closed - thank you for following.

We'll get the full voting figures for each ward published with more pictures as soon as we can.

20:21 Final count is 40 Green councillors and 14 Labour.

20:20 Grove Park declares two Labour councillors and one Green.

20:15 Catford South declares two Labour councillors - Oliver Matejka and Eva Stamirowski and one Green councillor Briony Edwards.

Blackheath declares two G...

The New Feminist

My work with The New Feminist Magazine

The New Feminist •

‘I would tell my younger self to use condoms more’: Meet Mo Carrier the founder of My Bliss - The New Feminist

Mo Carrier is the CEO and founder of MyBliss, a sexual wellness company designed by women for women. They have just two products on their site, condoms and lubricant.


The condoms are packaged in cute looking coffee pod style packaging with a simple line-drawn outline of a female figure, the idea being that the condoms are made deliberately with women and their vaginal health in mind.


Mo started the company in 2021 with her partner Joel and the idea for the condoms came when the couple deci...
The New Feminist •

What the declining birth rate conversation keeps getting wrong about women - The New Feminist

The fertility rate in England and Wales has hit a record low, and policymakers are worried. But the declining birth rate debate rarely stops to ask what women actually need to make having children a viable choice.


The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) recording of fertility and birth rates over the past half decade have begun to spark concern amongst some academics and newspaper headlines in the UK.


The recent data has shown a continued decline in the fertility rate in England and Wale...

The Mancunion

My work as a student journalist in The Mancunion where I was a Managing Editor in my final year 

“We’re disgraced by this”: Kurdish Society receives leaflets asking if they “have information on dangerous people smugglers” - The Mancunion

University of Manchester Kurdish society members were left “outraged” as Crimestoppers UK sent leaflets asking for information on “people smugglers”. 
According to the Kurdish Society, no other University of Manchester societies received the leaflets. When asked about Crimestoppers decision to send them post, the society President questioned “Why were we singled out?”.
They explained that Kurdish Society is subject to “dangerous stereotypes” and “grouped as illegal immigrants”, explaining that t...

Running a student newspaper halfway across the world: In conversation with the director of the PUClítico - The Mancunion

Student news fills a specific niche: it combines the experience of studying with, for most students in the UK, being a somewhat temporary resident in a new area. Currently, for students in the UK, this often means facing being a first-time renter in an increasingly expensive new city, getting accustomed to living without parents, and navigating a new social life far away from those parental eyes.
Halfway across the world, in Chile, being a student is quite different. Whilst their days might als...

House music, The Haçienda, and throwing eggs at Tories: The Mancunion in 1987 - The Mancunion

The year is coming to an end, meaning that the 60th anniversary of the official start of The Mancunion is too. A newspaper which, while in its own little corner of the world reporting to students in Manchester, has documented student life over here alongside the passing of world events and history. However, for a particular moment, Manchester briefly became the “centre of the universe” – that is, according to Alan Brown, and Rahiel Nasir (Naz), the Editor-in-Chief and Arts editor respectively of...

Café Blah: Community comes together to fight for a local establishment - The Mancunion

Owners of Withington’s Café Blah found their business shut unexpectedly on October 7, after they arrived to find their locks had been changed.
In August of 2023, Café Blah and the landlords began a series of negotiations after the rental contract was switched to a monthly rolling contract.
Two months later, landlords H Homes indicated that there would be a 65 percent increase in rent and 7.5 percent increase each year afterwards. Café Blah told the BBC that the increase was “unaffordable”.
In Ma...

"What I’m saying is we are coming after those landlords": Andy Burnham on Question Time. - The Mancunion

Andy Burnham and other senior figures in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority were at the Students’ Union as part of Andy Burnham Question Time on October 2. 
The event was introduced by Activities and Culture Officer Charlie Roberts and City and Community Officer Elliot Briffa. Mayor Andy Burnham thanked the Students’ Union for hosting the event. 
Audience members in the Academy were able to ask questions to the Mayor in person or submitted online. 
The event started on the topic of public...

Creating a transitive space in This Stupid World: Yo La Tengo play New Century - The Mancunion

With two sets and array of songs from sixteen albums to perform, Yo La Tengo strolled onto New Century’s stage with little introduction or build up. As the lights dimmed, they walked on in jeans and t-shirts and begun without flare or call to attention. Their casual and modest nature transpired to a performance that was brooding and understated, a transcendent scene of beauty and reflection. Despite the less than grandeur entrance, the agley diverse crowd were completely transfixed on the group....

Purple Collective: UoM students revolutionise how poetry is enjoyed - The Mancunion

At Retro bar on a Tuesday night in February, the room is dimmed but warmly lit with various twinkling lights and the glow of a screen playing looping animations. Various students and creative enthusiasts slowly begin to fill up the tables and benches set out before the small stage. The band is playing jazzy rhythms and settling the guests into a night of spoken word poetry interspersed with jams from the band, hosted by Purple Collective.
Conversations draw to a close as the band quieten, and th...

Ghosts of Fallowfield past: Why is the Owen's Park Tower still standing? - The Mancunion

Despite being unmissable even from afar, casting its empty ominous presence over Fallowfield, Owens Park Tower is a largely forgotten relic of University of Manchester halls-past.
The Tower last permanently housed students in June 2019 and has now stood empty for more than three years. Since then there has been little indication of what would happen to the Tower next and it looks as though this will continue. A Freedom of Information Request sent by The Mancunion has revealed that there are no c...