A Green councillor who once branded David Lammy a “coconut” has been handed a job in charge of “community healing” in a London borough.
Hau-Yu Tam was made cabinet member for “sanctuary and healing” on Lewisham council last night after the borough’s new Green administration scrapped the “community safety” role.
Ahead of the local elections on May 7, Green Party leader Zack Polanski came under pressure to sack Cllr Tam when her social media posts about non-white ministers came to light.
After Tottenham MP Mr Lammy was reported to have told a Cabinet meeting that a family member should not be on benefits, she posted on X: “It’s reminiscent of Priti Patel admitting her family wouldn’t get in under her own immigration rules, but somehow even more callous.
“These coconuts.”
The post about the Deputy Prime Minister and former Home Secretary has since been deleted.
Labour Party Chair, Anna Turley, said: “It doesn’t matter what your politics are. Going after public figures based on the colour of their skin should be condemned.
“It is therefore totally astonishing that Zack Polanski’s Green Party is now rewarding racism.
“Hau-Yu Tam should have been sacked as a candidate long before she became a councillor. She’s not fit for public office.
“The fact that Polanski took no action, and has now given her a plum job, is simply shameful.”
Lewisham Mayor Liam Shrivastava said: "Councillors have a responsibility to foster good community relations regardless of political beliefs.
“I know that Cllr Tam has reflected on this and the impact of what she has said in the past on social media.
"Cllr Tam is a committed councillor; she has a wealth of experience working with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, which is why she has been appointed to this challenging post, spearheading our work as the country’s first Borough of Sanctuary."
Cllr Tam, who is also the Deputy Leader of the Lewisham Green Group, won the Deptford seat on Lewisham council at the local elections on May 7.
She receives £41,603 per year in her new cabinet role, which consists of a basic councillor allowance of £13,201 and a special responsibility allowance of £28,811.
Lewisham was one of three London councils the Green’s seized control of from Labour on May 7.
In a day of Labour election disasters, Sir Keir Starmer’s party lost Lewisham, Hackney and Waltham Forest to the Greens as Mr Polanski’s party won almost 300 seats in the capital.
The party has since faced criticism after six newly elected London Green Party councillors immediately quit, leaving taxpayers to foot a £120,000 bill.
Green representatives in Camden, Haringey, Ealing, Lambeth and Hackney councils have immediately stood down meaning by-elections will have to be held.
