Meet the panicked locals who could kill Labour's plan for seven new towns

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“Golf clubs and green belt or council housing?” That was the question posed by the former Labour leader of Enfield Council, Ergin Erbil, in an Instagram video filmed at Crews Hill Golf Club in North London and posted on 1 May.

Just days later, on 7 May, Labour lost control of Enfield Council as well as 11 council seats, while the Greens and Conservatives gained 5 and 6 respectively, giving the Tories overall control.

Both the Tories and the Greens ran on a platform of opposing housebuilding on Enfield’s green belt and criticising the Labour government’s proposal to build one of its flagship “next generation new towns” here, and the local council’s support for said plan.