Josh Matthews, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of Lewisham, has committed to implementing a public health approach to tackle crime and building a sustainable housing system focused on family-sized social homes. Matthews is also standing as a candidate for the Catford South ward in the upcoming local elections.
Background and Political Career
After graduating from university, Matthews served as a local councillor for Newnham Ward at Cambridge City Council for nearly two years. With a background in chemical engineering and a career in climate change and sustainability, his environmental passion led to his appointment as Shadow Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment and the City Centre during his time in Cambridge.
Upon moving to London, Matthews continued his political engagement, recently standing as the Lib Dem MP candidate for Lewisham West and East Dulwich in the 2024 general election.
Vision for Lewisham
In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Matthews outlined his ambitions for Lewisham, emphasizing the need for the council to lead globally in addressing both climate and housing emergencies. He stated, "One of my ambitions is for Lewisham to be a world-leading council on not just tackling the climate and sustainability emergency, but also tackling the housing emergency."
He highlighted the interconnectedness of these issues, pointing to the council's role in developing transition plans to reduce its environmental footprint while maximizing positive impacts through initiatives like home retrofitting, solar installations, and heat pump promotions to lower residents' bills and enhance the local environment.
Housing and Planning Policies
Matthews strongly opposes City Hall's fast-track planning route, which allows developers to reduce the affordable housing quota from 35% to 20% for new developments. With over 10,500 people on Lewisham Council's housing waiting list as of January 2026, he criticized the current system, saying, "Developers can get away without contributing money into the community if they build 20 per cent affordable housing which itself isn't really affordable for the vast majority of people and families in Lewisham."
He proposed developing in-house legal and technical expertise to challenge developers and ensure the construction of accessible, affordable family and social homes, rather than outsourcing to consultants.
Crime Prevention and Community Initiatives
On crime-related issues, Matthews advocates for a multi-stakeholder, community-wide project to prevent crime proactively. He explained, "So we don't just take a hard line on crime, we should take more of a public health approach, but really see that lived out in practice where our town centres can be places that people want to go to as well."
For fly-tipping, he plans to introduce community skips and use a combination of data analysis and enforcement measures to clean up the borough.
Election Context
The local elections are scheduled for May 7, with voter registration closing on April 20. Postal vote applications are due by April 21, and proxy vote deadlines are set for April 28. Lewisham's mayoral race includes eight candidates:
- Jay Delaney Coward - Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
- Kayode Damali - Independent
- Amanda De Ryk - Labour and Co-operative Party
- Josh Matthews - Liberal Democrats
- Roger Mighton - Independent
- Pete Newman - Reform UK
- Liam Shrivastava - Green Party
- Sylbourne Sydial - Conservatives
