Three Labour supporters shouted Nick Austin, the Conservative candidate, down from across the church. He was mid-sentence, citing planning policy. Jenny Yates, the Labour cabinet member sitting two metres away, smiled. The Bishop of Kingston kept going. This is what a hustings looks like in a safe Labour ward, three weeks before election day.
West Putney and Roehampton’s second local election hustings took place on Wednesday evening at Holy Trinity Church, Roehampton, with around 150 people in attendance. Three candidates appeared: Chris Poole for the Green Party, Nick Austin for the Conservatives, and Jenny Yates for Labour. The Liberal Democrats had candidates in the room but sent none to the stage, citing an administrative error. Reform UK sent no candidate and offered no explanation, despite fielding six candidates across the two wards.
The evening belonged almost entirely to Roehampton. Housing, the Alton estate, bus services, and the estate’s troubled regeneration dominated the questions. The sharpest questioning came not from the chair or any resident in the room, but from the Green candidate.
How we assess candidates: Every candidate at every Hustings is scored on six criteria. Read our methodology.
Transport: diagnosis without a prescription
Every candidate agreed the Putney Bridge junction redesign has damaged bus services across the area. All three pointed to Hammersmith Bridge as a contributing factor. None offered a concrete fix.
Yates described co-chairing a monthly TfL task force and said three routes had seen additional buses added. Austin arrived with specific route numbers and TfL meeting minutes. Poole noted that car volumes over Putney Bridge are falling since 2018. The congestion affecting buses cannot be explained by increased traffic alone.
No candidate committed to a timeline for improvement.
“There is no funding gap”
Three separate audience questions raised the Alton estate regeneration. Yates’s answer to each was consistent: the scheme was on track, funded, and proceeding to plan.
“There is no funding gap,” she said. “All the plans are in the council capital programme.”
We reported in November that costs had risen from approximately £123 million to £163 million in the six weeks after the resident ballot, a rise of £40 million. The GLA grant assumption had grown from £16 million to £77 million, none of which had been applied for.
Austin put the numbers to Yates directly. Poole added specific detail: the scheme was approved on a 41.5% turnout, meaning nearly 60% did not vote. He noted the replacement youth base will be 219 square metres smaller than the one it replaces.
Yates repeated that everything was in the capital programme. She did not address the £77 million gap.
Budget papers, mid-debate
During the housing repairs exchange, Austin read from Wandsworth’s February 2026 budget papers, verbatim, mid-debate. He was heckled. He kept going. The papers state that £212 million is assumed to be required for capital repairs to the council’s existing housing stock. Reserves have been used for regeneration rather than repairs.
“If you’re so passionate about housing repairs,” he asked Yates, “why did you spend all the money?”
Yates’s response: “I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.”
This is either evasion or genuine unfamiliarity with her own administration’s budget papers. Both readings are significant. The council holds a C3 landlord rating from the Regulator of Social Housing, issued in February 2025 for what the regulator described as “serious failings.”
The allegation Yates did not deny
The most significant exchange of the evening came when Poole raised a specific allegation about the council’s financial strategy.
“We’ve heard through a Labour councillor speaking to one of our party members that the actual plan is to deplete the reserves,” he said, “which could unlock Exceptional Financial Support. In Lambeth this has amounted to over £100 million. If it is the plan, why are you not telling residents about it?”
Exceptional Financial Support is a real mechanism. Councils that exhaust their reserves can apply for central government emergency funding, but it comes with conditions, including government oversight of spending decisions. Lambeth received over £100 million through the process.
Yates called it “gossip from the local council” and did not engage with the mechanism. She did not deny it.
The allegation is hearsay and cannot be reported as fact. But it was made in public, at a hustings, and the candidate who made it pressed when dismissed. It has not been substantively refuted.
A claim we already found false
We found this false in March. The total collected since the CIL levy began in 2012 is £263 million. Of that, 78% was collected before Labour took office in May 2022. Labour’s three years produced £58.8 million.
At Wednesday’s hustings, Yates repeated the claim verbatim: “We’ve collected in total £230 million from property developers.”
The council’s own response to a councillor’s questions in March confirmed none of the four savings figures Yates cited on Wednesday as delivered savings: £30 million on leisure, £14 million through service redesign, £11 million on recycling, and £3.7 million on homelessness prevention.
How each party engaged with ward priorities
Based on candidate responses at West Putney & Roehampton Hustings, 15 April 2026. Lib Dems and Reform did not send candidates.
| Ward priority | Labour | Conservative | Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bus services & transport | SpecificCo-chairs monthly TfL task force; added buses to three routes | VagueSays junction must be fixed first; no specific commitment | SpecificJunction redesign priority; work with London Assembly on TfL |
| Alton estate regeneration | SpecificCommitted to full implementation; denies funding gap | VagueWill scrap plan if elected; cannot commit to scheme with funding gap | VagueSupports proceeding but wants funding confirmed and problems resolved |
| Council housing repairs | SpecificNew Residents Services Directorate; £212m borrowing programme | SpecificBorrow £212m to restore sinking fund; grip procurement failures | VaguePrioritise most vulnerable; noted decades of Conservative neglect |
| Lennox estate green space | VagueRetained and improved green space promised; cites housing crisis | SpecificWill scrap Lennox development immediately if elected | SpecificWill not support building on estate green space, full stop |
| Council finances & council tax | VagueLowest in country maintained; savings cited; dismissed EFS allegation | VagueHonest admission: significant decisions required; reserves falling | VagueCitizens assembly for budget; questioned Labour on EFS allegation |
Where they stood
The comparison panel above shows each party’s position across five issues discussed on Wednesday: bus services, Alton estate regeneration, council housing repairs, Lennox estate green space, and council finances.
Who wasn’t there
The Liberal Democrats have candidates standing in both West Putney and Roehampton. Their candidates were present in the room. The chair read a statement explaining their absence from the stage as an administrative error. Reform UK is fielding six candidates across the two wards and sent no candidate. No explanation was provided.
What comes next
The final hustings in this series covers Southfields on Tuesday 21 April at 7.30pm at St Barnabas Church. A written questionnaire remains open and candidates in all three wards have been invited to answer five questions on the record. This is the second of three hustings reports. The first is here.
Residents in West Putney and Roehampton can contact their candidates directly. The full candidate list is on our election page. Polling day is 7 May 2026.
