Richmond Park News: 4 September 2026

MAYORAL ANNOUNCEMENT

December will mark a decade since my by-election win in 2016, and with this 10-year anniversary upcoming, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on my time in politics, and what has changed during this period. 

The past 10 years have been a tumultuous time.  This week, I faced my sixth Prime Minister in the Commons Chamber - a sign of how volatile the political climate has become.  The failure of successive governments has led to the public looking elsewhere for political leadership, with parties on the more extreme sides of the debate gaining popularity. 

It is also clear that London has become an afterthought for successive Prime Ministers. Funding has been directed away from the capital, our infrastructure has not been modernised, and the housing crisis gets worse year on year. This is all while politicians talk down the capital, and speak as if it is a city which needs to pay the price for its relative success.

With the new government’s focus on devolution, I am increasingly being told that the Mayor of London will hold the power to make many of the changes that I seek for our community.  But I can see in our reduced bus services, depleted policing and the ongoing saga of Hammersmith Bridge, that the Mayor is not interested in delivering for our corner of the capital.

I have been thinking about what more I can do to effect positive change for our community.  Current polling demonstrates that the Labour candidate (whether Sadiq Khan or someone else) is likely to win the next mayoral election easily.  Without a challenge, Labour will be rewarded for their lacklustre complacency and there will be no momentum to push for something better.

I have therefore decided to seek selection to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London and will officially launch my bid next week.

My commitment to Richmond Park remains unchanged, and I will continue to advocate and stand up for matters impacting my constituents in Richmond and Kingston throughout the selection process and subsequent mayoral campaign.

To each reader of my weekly newsletter, I would like to thank you for all of your support over the past decade, and I hope that you will be supportive of me during my mayoral campaign.

BBC POLITICS LIVE

Yesterday, I appeared on BBC Politics Live alongside Emma Lewell MP, Lucy Harris and Mark Francois MP.

The last nail in the coffin for Sir Keir Starmer’s Premiership was the failure to properly fund the UK’s defence capabilities, which triggered the resignation of John Healey as Secretary of State for Defence. 

To pile pressure onto the new government, Kemi Badenoch announced earlier that day the Conservatives’ plans to raise an extra £10 billion a year to reach 3% of GDP on defence spending by 2030. 

While Mark Francois used the opportunity to lament the government’s failure to clearly outline how they will sufficiently fund our nation’s defence, I challenged him on the fact that our military had been hollowed out during his party’s time in government.

The topic of discussion then turned to Burnham’s first sitting week in Parliament, and in particular, his admission that Brexit had led to a ‘decade of low growth.’ While it was refreshing to hear a Prime Minister finally speak boldly about the damages that Brexit has caused, the other panelists on the programme sought to dismiss and downplay the issue.

The programme also included discussions surrounding political donations and Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as an MP, and you can catch-up on the full episode by clicking here.

ITV LONDON LATE DEBATE

Later that day, I appeared on ITV London Late Debate alongside Rachel Blake MP and Chris Philp MP.

Hosepipe bans have been implemented across the UK this summer, and the presenter, Simon Harris, asked if the Teddington Direct River Abstraction proposal could be the answer to improve our capital’s drought resilience. 

When operational, the scheme would only supply 2.5% of the 3bn litres of water our treatment plants need per day in London - a fraction of what is needed to improve London’s drought resilience. Meanwhile, Thames Water loses 571mn litres of water in their pipe networks per day. 

Not to mention that recent pilot test results at the Mogden Sewage Treatment Plant revealed that the water supply could contain 13 times over the legal limit of forever chemicals - all while the scheme would cost Thames Water over £500mn. The scheme is simply not fit for purpose.

During the debate, I also expressed my thoughts about James Cleverly announcing his candidacy for London Mayor, and you can watch the full debate by clicking here.

MEETING REGARDING THE BARNES BUS CONSULTATION

The changes made following TfL’s Barnes Bus Consultation were implemented on 15 August. During the consultation period, I met with TfL to make objections to their plans to reduce the number of buses servicing Barnes, with a direct route from Castelnau to Putney being cut, as well as to voice my concerns about the turning point for the 209 being set at Barnes Pond.

Despite significant feedback from residents, Councillors and other stakeholders, TfL moved ahead with their proposals. I therefore contacted the Deputy Mayor of London for Transport, Seb Dance, to organise an on-site visit to Barnes Pond to discuss the transport related challenges and cut-backs that Barnes residents experience.

Myself, Councillor Fiona Sacks and Councillor Alex Ehmann began the meeting by expressing our concern about the suitability of the 209 turning around at Barnes Pond. The 209 now sits on Church Road, blocking traffic during busy periods, before using the narrow turning point on Station Road to turn around. The turning point is located right outside of a GP surgery, while the area experiences a high level of footfall on weekends. Due to these safety concerns, it is clear that the turning point is at a far from ideal position.

Discussions then turned to ensuring that the 33 does not ‘dead run’ down Kilmington Road, Howsman Road and Verdun Road to turn around when turning around to travel towards Fulwell. Councillors Sacks and Ehmann both encouraged Seb Dance to work with the Council to examine the viability of turning around the 33 at the intersection of Castelnau and Lonsdale Road.

It would not be a meeting about transport in Barnes without discussing Hammersmith Bridge. TfL’s new regulations for pedicabs are set to come into effect at the end of October, and I remarked to Seb Dance that there is not a single better place for a pedicabs service than in Barnes. I encouraged Seb to incentivise the use of pedicabs in the area to provide a service which could stretch between Barnes Pond and Hammersmith Station, and I will be continuing these discussions with TfL.

SUICIDE PREVENTION CAMPAIGN

For the past year, I have been working alongside my constituent and suicide prevention campaigner, Philip Pirie, to push the government to launch a public health campaign to tackle the stigma towards suicide.

Myself and Philip have been collecting signatures for an open letter to the Prime Minister to call on him to make tackling stigma a priority. Former Health Secretaries Sir Sajid Javid and Sir Jeremy Hunt have actively supported the call, alongside the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of General Practitioners, suicide prevention charities and over 40 MPs. 

Last year, Philip also co-chaired new NHS Guidance titled ‘Staying Safe from Suicide,’ which reformed how practitioners should assess someone’s risk of suicide. Over 80% of people who die by suicide are assessed as being ‘low’ or ‘no risk’ before they die, and the guidance sought to change practice to ensure mental health practitioners adopt a holistic approach towards understanding someone’s thoughts and possible ideations.

However, a year after the guidance had been released, it was revealed that less than 10% of mental health practitioners had undertaken the training for the new guidance. 

Mental health professionals work long hours and have extremely difficult jobs, and I believe the Department for Health and Social Care should be doing more to ensure practitioners have the most up to date training on new guidance.

You can read the article on the campaign to tackle stigma here, and the article regarding the lack of take-up of the guidance by clicking here.

BLUE GREEN ALGAE IN THAMES

London’s first Designated Bathing Site opened earlier this year, which has been enjoyed by local residents throughout the warm summer, however, last month the Environment Agency (EA) reported potentially toxic levels of Blue-Green Algae, whilst carrying out routine water quality testing.

I have been in contact with both Kingston Council and the Environment Agency, ensuring everything is being done to protect residents. The EA have confirmed that their messaging to the public continues to be; do not enter the water, avoid contact with the water, keep animals away from the water - and do not allow them to drink it. 

The council has informed me that they have put up signs by the Designated Bathing Site, and along the river bank, as well as on their social media, warning against entering the river. You can also find the latest updates on SwimInfo.

THAMES WATER LEAKS

It will come as no surprise that Thames Water have continued to provide an abysmal level of service over the summer. 

The water company has failed to provide even a sub-standard level of communication with my office over a number of issues that have arisen over the past 2months. Whether it be the contempt they have shown towards residents in Kingston who have had their vehicles and building damaged following a basement flooding, to failing to undertake their basic services such as repairing leaks on Greville and Marlborough Road, their performance has been unacceptable.

As such, I have lodged a formal complaint to Thames Water’s CEO, Chris Weston, and you can view my letter by clicking here.

RADIO JACKIE

Last Friday, I was interviewed by Radio Jackie to discuss a range of local issues, and one of the most concerning matters that arose over the summer was visitors to Richmond Park being injured by the deer after getting too close to them.

The Royal Parks have repeatedly advised visitors to stay at least 50m away from the deer at all times, but this requires supervision and enforcement.

The consequence of failing to properly fund the Metropolitan Police resulted in the loss of our dedicated Parks Police force last year. The force had specific expertise and knowledge about the park, and it is unrealistic to ask our neighbourhood police teams to cover an area the size of Richmond Park on top of their existing duties.

While I understand it is visitors who are disrupting the deer in Richmond Park, I would like to use this opportunity to remind people to stay a safe distance away and to not feed them

We also touched on the future of Hammersmith Bridge and the Heathrow 3rd Runway consultation in the interview, and you can listen to the full discussion by clicking here.

COMMUNITY NEWS

ESEA CULTURE FESTIVAL

On Saturday 5 September 2026, the ESEA Culture Festival will be held in Kingston Market Place, KT1 1JT  from 11:00-16:00. The festival will be celebrating East and Southeast Asian culture with live performances, martial arts, music, food and family - festival activities. 

Performances include the iconic Frank Chickens, known for their playful blend of Japanese pop, performance and humour. Also, singer-songwriter, DJ and sound artist, Edith and singer-songwriter, vocalist Ryu Jisu who will also join the line-up. 

Entry to the festival is free, filled with many performances, kimchi tasting and hanbok trials. 

For more information, click here.

SHEEN FOOD FEST

On Saturday 12 September 2026, Sheen Food Fest returns, with more than 20 independent food and drink businesses across East Sheen participating. 

Every ticket includes five “Taste Tokens”, redeemable for five complimentary tasting portions at participating venues. If you are hungry for more, every venue will also be serving a specially created Food Fest Special for just £5.

The event will be from 10am onwards with individual venue opening times shown on the event map.

You can find out more about the event and buy tickets by clicking here.