Councillor Trey Campbell-Simon said neither he nor his Hammersmith and Fulham Green colleague Cllr Liz Collins will be standing in the upcoming local elections
Cllr Trey Campbell-Simon (left) and Cllr Liz Collins (right)(Image: LDRS)
A West London Green councillor revealed he has been suffering from an increasing number of seizures due to an ongoing medical condition, impacting his ability to attend meetings. Cllr Trey Campbell-Simon, and his fellow Hammersmith and Fulham Green member Cllr Liz Collins, defected from the ruling Labour group last July.
In an exclusive interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) Cllr Campbell-Simon, who represents the Walham Green ward, said that since then both members have been suffering from ill health. Neither are to stand in May’s elections on medical advice.
Cllr Campbell-Simon said that the seizures, which occur due to him having an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a cluster of blood vessels on his brain, at times leave him unable to get out of bed and talk properly.
He said: “It’s very, very rare and it affects me in ways that I can’t get out of bed some days. I struggle with vision once I’ve had seizures. I struggle with walking.”
Cllr Campbell-Simon and Cllr Collins became the borough’s first two Green Party members when they defected last summer. At the time the pair described the move as a “momentous moment” though since then have only attended one meeting each.
Any councillor who misses all meetings over a six-month period is removed, meaning both members have just held onto their seats. In an article published by the LDRS the Tory group leader Cllr Jose Afonso said the attendance rates showed the Green Party was “not a serious force” for delivering change locally.
Cllr Callum Nimmo, Hammersmith and Fulham Labour’s Deputy Whip, meanwhile said being a councillor “isn’t a career step”, adding the work “takes dedication and knowing how to work through the system to get things done”. The LDRS also spoke with a Green Party spokesperson, who said there have been “ongoing issues” with local councillors and that neither is standing in the forthcoming May elections.
No mention was made of either Cllr Campbell-Simon or Cllr Collins struggling to attend meetings due to illness. Several days after the first story was published the two members provided a lengthy statement, in which they stated both of them had been dealing with serious health issues and that only three Full Council meetings were missed.
They also claimed there had been structural factors including a delay in being assigned to Policy and Accountability Committees after defecting, which they said limited their ability to participate in council business.
Cllr Campbell-Simon sits on the Economy, Arts, Sports, and Public Realm Policy and Accountability Committee as well as Full Council, with his sole appearance since last July being at a Cabinet meeting in December. Cllr Collins is recorded as having attended a Children and Accountability Policy and Accountability Committee meeting in November.
In an interview with the LDRS Cllr Campbell-Simon said that prior to May 2022, when both members were elected to the local authority, he had faced health issues including being diagnosed with AVM in 2015. AVM is an abnormal collection of blood vessels on the brain and can be fatal. It is also extremely rare.
Cllr Campbell-Simon said leading up to the 2022 elections his health improved and that while he still experienced some seizures they had regulated. However after the elections he suffered from worsening seizures, something he claims the Labour group knew about, and required a second brain operation in 2023.
In the months following last summer’s defection Cllr Campbell-Simon said his health has again taken a dip. “Since our switch to the Greens my seizures have only increased so it’s taken a back step,” he said.
“Sometimes I can’t even get out of bed, sometimes I have multiple seizures a day. It’s all up in the air at the moment.”
Cllr Campbell-Simon added it has been “really difficult day to day” though insisted he has continued to complete casework for Walham Green residents.
“It hasn’t been an easy ride but I pride myself on my record over the last four years of representing residents at the highest level. Being someone they can approach and talk to, and just being a good local councillor.”
Cllr Campbell-Simon said he feels the comments from other political parties on his and Cllr Collins’s attendance records were intended to “discredit” the work they have been doing.
He also clarified the decision not to stand again in May was made by the pair on medical advice, though added he is not ruling out running again in the future.
On his plans for the remainder of his term, he said: “After all of this is over, me and Liz just want to focus on seeing out the last seven weeks and representing residents in the way that we have been.”
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