The party’s website was updated on Tuesday evening to remove Ms Ali from its list of candidates. The Daily Mail had earlier made an in-passing and unsourced reference to her resignation as a Green candidate, which the News From Crystal Palace website later said it had confirmed.

Lambeth Green Party leader Scott Ainslie – himself a councillor and candidate in the ward – had not replied when asked earlier on Tuesday by StreathamStuff whether Ms Ali remained the party’s candidate, or at the weekend when asked if he still had confidence in her as a colleague.

Cllr Ainslie was still promoting Ali in campaigning at the weekend, telling St Leonard’s residents that she was one of “three good candidates” on the Green Party slate for the ward. Ali, who heads the Southern Women’s Aid Network charity, was described on Green leaflets as a “community leader”. But the party’s website now reads: “Your Green candidates for Streatham St Leonard’s are Alice Weavers and Scott Ainslie”.

While Ali won’t have the Greens’ support, she also won’t be removed from the ballot, and the party can’t replace her, now that nominations for the elections on May 7th have closed and postal voting has begun. Her name appears set to go forward to voters, regardless – accompanied by the Green Party’s name and logo.

If still elected, she could choose to resign her seat, prompting a by-election. Or if she is no longer a Green Party member then she could choose to retain the seat, as an independent councillor.

But whatever happens, it will be a considerable embarrassment for Lambeth’s Greens, raising questions over the party’s candidate selection and vetting, at a time when it is targeting major gains in Lambeth and throughout inner London.

Ali was in place as the candidate for some months – she told residents at a St Leonard’s neighbourhood police meeting back in December that she was standing for the Greens. And yet her posts appear to have gone unnoticed by the party, which then took almost two weeks to act after the allegations emerged.

The seat should have been one of the safest in Lambeth – no other party has put significant resources into campaigning in St Leonard’s, which has three sitting Green councillors, amid a rising tide of Green popularity nationally.

But Ali suffered a fortnight of calls for her to stand down, or be removed by the party, after The Spectator printed details of her social media posts. She has said the posts, from 2024 and 2025, were motivated by support for Palestine, but they have been heavily criticised as antisemitic.

Lambeth Labour’s leader Claire Holland called for the Greens to remove her, and Clapham Town candidate Sabine Mairey, “following their racist conduct”. She also called on Cllr Ainslie and national Green Party leader Zack Polanski to “apologise for your own failure to properly condemn their views”.

Streatham MP Steve Reed meanwhile said the posts contained “antisemitic tropes” and “sickeningly racist views”, and also called on Polanski to withdraw support for her. “I hope you will choose to do what we [Labour] did and rid your party of the stain of antisemitism,” Reed wrote.

Lambeth Liberal Democrat leader Donna Harris also wrote to the Greens’ leaders, almost two weeks ago, asking whether Ali would remain a candidate.

“The claims outlined, suggesting the promotion of conspiratorial, extremist, and, in some cases, antisemitic views, are serious and, if accurate, raise significant concerns not only for your party but for public confidence in local democracy,” Cllr Harris wrote.

The Spectator’s article of April 15th listed a series of social media posts that it said Ali had made in 2024 and 2025 – they included one that said “England has a government over-represented with Zionist Jews” and another that said it was “time to cut the head off this snake” – alongside an image of a snake patterned with the Star of David and wrapping itself around the Earth.

Shortly after publication, the posts appeared to still exist – but were only available to users with access to Ali’s now-private account. Later attempts to access the posts were met with messages indicating they had been deleted.

Ali was subsequently reported to have apologised for the posts, saying: “I unequivocally reject antisemitism in all its forms. My comments were rooted in concern for the humanitarian situation in the Middle East, and I remain committed to speaking with care, responsibility and respect for everyone.”