The opposition Conservatives claim that “Labour’s time is up” but council leader Ergin Erbil said he would “take no lectures” from the Tories, reports James Cracknell

Labour council leader Ergin Erbil (left) and Tory opposition leader Alessandro Georgiou (right) are battling for control of Enfield Civic Centre

An opposition motion of ‘no confidence’ in the Labour administration at Enfield Civic Centre was defeated last night (Wednesday 21^st) as councillors on both sides launched a series of pre-election attacks.

The Labour Party has been in control of Enfield Council since 2010, winning four successive local elections, but with the next poll now just over three months away – and with the result expected to be the closest in many years – the Conservative group took the chance of their last opposition business debate before 7^th May to reel off a long list of what they called “Labour failures” in Enfield.

Among 29 bullet points included in the written Tory motion that councillors debated was the construction of “only 300 of the 10,000 homes promised” at Meridian Water, the Labour-run council’s flagship housing project in Edmonton – which will also help bring Enfield Council’s total debt up to £1.5billion by the end of this financial year.

There were also mentions of “ill thought-out projects” including cycle lanes and a controversial new bus lane in Enfield Town; the “sweetheart deal” allowing Tottenham Hotspur to “destroy” part of Whitewebbs Park; the removal of weekly bin collections; low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) which the Tories claim have caused “chaos on our roads”; as well as the “environmental catastrophe” of planning to build thousands of homes on the Green Belt at Crews Hill and Chase Park, now also proposed as a ‘new town‘ by the Labour government.

Introducing the motion, Conservative councillor Julian Sampson lamented last year’s decision to close seven libraries in the borough. He then asked why, given the recent news of a significant government funding boost for the civic centre, the council leader “did not say he would be reversing the closures”.

“Maybe in his response to this he will be making a big reveal, but I doubt it,” said Cllr Sampson. He went on: “We have now learned there will be between £10m and £15m of cuts [in the 2026/27 budget]. I know there has been overspending and unforeseen expenditure […] but this is what happens when you run reserves so low that the only way to cope is to make cuts to spending.”

He then accused the Labour administration of “behaving like an addict” in the way it was spending many millions on projects like Meridian Water and Energetik, the council-owned district heating network.

Cllr Sampson also highlighted ways in which the council had “spent money on itself”, such as the creation of four associate cabinet members who “serve no purpose” but are each paid an additional £8,000 in allowances each year.

He concluded by reeling off a list of recent political scandals, such as former Labour councillor Mustafa Cetinkaya‘s “unsafe” dropped kerb which his then-Labour colleagues on the planning committee approved against the recommendation of officers; ex-mayor Mohammad Islam being found to have brought his office into “disrepute” through the misuse of council resources to assist friends and family with visas; and planning chair Mahym Bedekova not obtaining prior planning permission for her house of multiple occupation.

“This Labour group has lost the moral authority to govern,” claimed Cllr Sampson.

In response, council leader Ergin Erbil said he was “sorry for the ink that was wasted” on the opposition paper and then reeled off a list of his own, highlighting some of his administration’s achievements.

Cllr Erbil cited the creation of new family hubs offering free support to local parents and children; free bulky waste collections; the opening of a new recycling centre; the council’s housing service receiving a top C1 rating; improvements to leisure centres; and falling crime in Edmonton “which didn’t happen by chance – it happened because this Labour council has invested”, with extra security patrols on council estates, a new police operation tackling drug lines and antisocial behaviour, and “more job opportunities and council housing”.

The council leader said: “Parents tell me they feel safer in our parks and residents tell me they feel safer and more secure on our estates – it is because we choose to invest at every opportunity.”

He finished by blaming “14 years of cuts” under successive Conservative governments for local decisions such as the closure of seven Enfield libraries, and accused opposition councillors of “shedding crocodile tears over the cuts” and of being “desperate for us to go bankrupt”.

Several other councillors contributed to the debate.

Conservative Emma Supple attacked the council’s “mismanaged finances” and the “enormous damage” of library cuts.

Labour cabinet member Ayten Guzel said the Tory opposition paper was a “poor list of bullet points with no substance” that “feels rushed and desperate”.

Tory councillor Ruby Sampson claimed there was a “ticking tax time bomb” in Enfield with Labour hoping Keir Starmer “will wave his magic wand”.

Labour chief whip Bektas Ozer said the opposition paper was “not about confidence” but “about Conservative amnesia, Conservative hypocrisy and Conservative desperation”. He added: “When they had a chance nationally they stripped councils of funding and left residents to pick up the bill.”

Conservative Reece Fox said that Labour’s “time is up” after “16 damaging years” and accused the administration of “financial recklessness” and “sacrificing our Green Belt to build Keir Starmer’s new town”. He added: “When we win control in 106 days time, we will save Whitewebbs Park, stop the new town, bring back weekly bin collections – and save the borough.”

Alev Cazimoglu, a Labour cabinet member and mother of ex-leader Nesil Caliskan, who stepped down after becoming the MP for Barking at the 2024 General Election, said that the Tory opposition paper was “embarrassing and disrespectful to the electorate” and accused Conservative group leader Alessandro Georgiou of being “so entitled he can’t be bothered to come up with his own policies” as well as “an attention seeking child” – pointing to his prolific posting on social media.

Cllr Georgiou immediately hit back, saying the Tories would “wipe Labour off the map” and claimed that “the moment it started going down hill” for Enfield Labour was “when they got rid of Doug Taylor”.

Cllr Taylor led Labour to its best-ever result in Enfield in 2018 but was replaced as leader by Caliskan just a few weeks later – she then subsequently saw her party lose eight seats to the Tories in 2022 despite the election being held at the height of the Boris Johnson ‘Partygate’ scandal.

“They are the ones who have let down our borough,” said Cllr Georgiou. “I have spent twelve years in opposition but I promise you I won’t serve another year in opposition – when we are in control we will sort the borough out.”

Cllr Erbil then brought the debate to a close and said: “We are addressing the root causes of crime, tackling deprivation and poverty, we are going to build on Crews Hill and we will continue to provide council homes – I will take no lecture from the Conservatives.”

The opposition motion was defeated with all councillors voting along party lines aside from independent member Cllr Cetinkaya, who abstained.

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