Greenwich Council has reviewed its arrangements for opposition groups following the recognition of the Independents and Greens as a political group on 15 September 2025. The formation of the group followed a notice delivered to the Chief Executive on 11 September, who, after confirming the conditions were met, recognised the Independent and Greens Group on 15 September 2025.
The council convened on Wednesday to discuss the Review of Opposition Group Arrangements 2025-26 following the recent formation of the Independent and Greens group.
The council's political composition is now:
- Labour and Labour and Cooperative: 47
- Conservative: 4
- Independent and Greens: 4
According to the Review of Opposition Group Arrangements 2025-26 report, the council's constitution does not address the situation where opposition groups are of equal size. To address this, the council agreed that the leaders of both the Conservative and Independent and Green groups should be recognised as Leader of the Opposition
, referred to as Leader of the Opposition Conservative Group
and Leader of the Opposition Independent and Greens Group
respectively.
The report proposes that the leaders of both the Conservative and Independent and Green groups should be recognised as Leader of the Opposition
.
The council also agreed to maintain Councillor Majella Anning as the Leader of the Independent and Green Group, and Councillor Tamasin Rhymes as the Deputy Leader. Councillor Majella Anning will receive a Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) of £19,003. The Review of Opposition Group Arrangements 2025-26 report notes that the Special Responsibility Allowance as relating to minority groups was agreed on 26 March 2025 as follows:
| Leader of the Opposition (Largest Minority Party) : | £19,003 |
|---|---|
| Leader of the Second largest Minority Party : | £5,736 |
| Minority Group Allocation (4 members of more): | £5736 |
The Independent and Green Group will receive a Minority Group Allocation of £5736.
According to Appendix A, the Independent and Greens will not be allocated any seats on committees where political balance applies. The Review of Opposition Group Arrangements 2025-26 report states that:
For all committees where political balance applies, there are none where the balance would naturally be satisfied, i.e. where they would be allocated in addition to the Conservative Group, as there are no committees with 14 or more seats (see Appendix A).
Instead, the council agreed to allocate seats to the Independent and Greens on the Corporate Parenting Partnership Board and the Licensing Committee, where there is no requirement for political balance. The Review of Opposition Group Arrangements 2025-26 report states that:
As a result the most appropriate way forward would be to allocate the Independent and Greens seats to the following two committees, where there is no requirement for political balance:
- Corporate Parenting Partnership Board
- Licensing Committee
