Sadiq Khan: Jahdia Spencer canvasses 5,000-seat London vote
Jahdia Spencer spent election day dashing around southeast London for sadiq khan's Labour Party, canvassing in Greenwich and nearby areas as voters went to the polls across Britain. The 27-year-old Bermudian councillor said she was helping colleagues in shakier seats while Labour faced polls pointing to a difficult result in London.
The vote covered more than 5,000 council seats in England and was being read as a test of support for Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government. In Scotland and Wales, results were also being watched for the same reason.
Jahdia Spencer in Greenwich
Spencer was elected in a by-election in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in December 2024 with 465 votes. The Liberal Democrat candidate won 336 votes, and turnout was 15 per cent. That made Spencer the youngest councillor elected in Greenwich, and she has since become one of the local faces Labour is leaning on in a more crowded campaign.
On election day, she said, "I'm out in the morning in my area, but then I am helping my other colleagues who are in, I guess you could say, shakier seats," and added, "I'm known to be like a machine with canvassing, so I would definitely be probably out around the entire borough by the end of the day."
Labour's Greenwich message
Spencer has been selling Labour's record in Greenwich in direct, local terms. She said, "Over in Greenwich, we’ve invested in more SEND [special educational needs and disabilities] centres and really improved the roads," and, "We have £5 million to tackle fly tipping and have improved so much across the area."
Her pitch is being made in West Thamesmead, one of 55 seats in Greenwich and one of the wards with two seats on Labour-run Greenwich council. Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, Reform UK and the Conservatives were all fielding candidates there, making it one of the places where the party had to defend its record while also trying to avoid a broader London setback.
Starmer and Rayner in the campaign
Spencer said Sir Keir Starmer sent her a letter thanking councillors for their hard work and encouraging them to keep going. She also said Angela Rayner visited and offered words of wisdom, adding, "It was great meeting her. It really meant a lot to feel the support from our national MPs."
She said, "With just five days to go until the election, her visit came at exactly the right moment and gave everyone a real boost in morale." The local contest has therefore become more than a borough-level fight: it is being used by Labour councillors in Greenwich to argue that local delivery should still count even as polls suggested London could be especially difficult for the party.
Spencer put that argument plainly in West Thamesmead: "This is a very, very contested time and I just hope that people remember everything that Labour's done in Greenwich, especially," as ballots were cast and the party's standing in London was being tested seat by seat.
