Reform accused of 'unholy alliance' with Khan that would bulldoze London's green spaces

Reform-led councils would allow Sadiq Khan to bulldoze London's green spaces and build on the city's green belt, critics have claimed. In a blistering attack by the party's election rivals, Conservatives accused Nigel Farage's insurgent political party of forming an "unholy alliance" with the London Mayor and posing a "serious threat" to the capital's green spaces.

Senior Tories have seized on a vote in the London Assembly, as well as comments made by Reform's candidate for London Mayor, to blast the party's policy on the area around the city designed to prevent urban sprawl. In June last year, Reform assembly members voted with Labour to defeat a Conservative motion which called for the protection of parks, open spaces, and the green belt, and called for new housing developments to be put on brownfield land instead.

The motion came after the Mayor announced that he would strip green belt protections away in the next London Plan, a document that informs housing policy in the city. Critics claimed that the move would put parks, Metropolitan Open Land and spaces used for sport under the threat of development. Senior Conservatives have also highlighted an intervention by Reform's Mayoral candidate, Laila Cunningham, in which she said the green belt was not "daffodils and rabbits, a lot of it is actually industrial wasteland".

Louie French, the Conservative MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup, said London's green spaces were "the capital's lungs" and accused both Labour and Reform of voting to build on them. "People in outer London are understandably furious that Reform backed Sadiq Khan," said Mr French. "They can't be trusted."

Mr French is an MP in the London Borough of Bexley, a key target for Reform in the upcoming local elections. David Simmonds, a fellow Conservative MP, went further, saying Reform was "hand in hand with Khan in their determination to rip up London's precious green belt." Mr Simmonds added that while London's Conservatives were standing up for open spaces, Reform had "voted to build all over them."

Reform rejected the characterisation of their policies made by the Conservatives and said it was "sad that the Conservative Party are running their entire London campaign on lies and smears because they can't defend their own dismal record." A spokesman added that the Tories had "promised young people that they'd be the party of home ownership, but then blocked new homes at every stage while presiding over record immigration into the UK."

The party, which hopes to make gains in Bexley and across London in the May elections, added that their "position is clear," stating they would "protect the green belt whilst fast-tracking planning permission and prioritising building on brownfield sites to deliver the homes the Conservatives failed to build for a generation."

Writing for the Express, Susan Hall, the leader of the London Conservatives and a former Mayoral candidate, said that she feared Reform gaining councils in May would give "this anti-green spaces agenda a credible footing in council offices across London."

Ms Hall warned that "vibrant parks, natural waterways, and rich green foliage" would vanish "under skyscrapers as Reform councils sweep away the green spaces Londoners love so much." The green belt has proven to be a contentious issue in the capital, which is currently grappling with a housing crisis.

Critics of the green belt call for it to be opened for development, but the Conservatives are urging for brownfield land to be used instead. In outer London, such as Bexley, large parts of local authorities are taken up by the green belt and therefore subject to building restrictions. A 2023 survey showed that 18.5% of Bexley is considered to be green belt land. Bromley and Havering see 51% and 54% of available land similarly designated.

Ms Hall said the case for building on the green belt was undermined by the volume of brownfield land sitting undeveloped across the capital, arguing that red tape and higher taxes were leaving viable sites untouched.

"Whilst there is a single acre of brownfield land in London that remains undeveloped, for Reform and Labour to push to build on parks and Metropolitan Open Land is a clear sign that it's not about solving the housing crisis for them," she said.

Conservatives have called for a rewrite of the London Plan to unlock brownfield sites. The last Conservative government ordered a review of the plan to remove regulations blocking development on brownfield and industrial land, but Labour ministers scrapped it in November 2024.

Ms Hall urged Londoners not to be swayed by Reform's public criticism of the Mayor, warning that the party was "all too keen to work with the Mayor to take away your green spaces, whilst pretending they could never work with him."

The Mayor of London was contacted for comment.

Local elections across London take place on 7 May.