Council leader Elizabeth Campbell has urged residents’ associations and the people they represent to rally behind a formal challenge to Westminster.

Cllr Campbell’s appeal letter on the RBKC website

The council plans to use the Sustainable Communities Act to demand that the Government reconsiders its Fair Funding Review, which changes how money is distributed between local authorities.

But Council chiefs say they need residents to demonstrate the strength of opposition before the challenge can go ahead. In a letter emailed to residents’ association chairs today, Cllr Campbell urged people across the borough to respond to an online consultation and make their voices heard.

She warned that Kensington and Chelsea stood to lose more than £100 million over four years—equivalent to more than 40 per cent of its controllable budget. Cllr Campbell described the threat to the council as “existential” and said residents would ultimately pay the price through service cuts and council tax rises.

“This Council has consistently opposed Fairer Funding,” she wrote. “I believe that it is both unfair and unreasonable.”

The Conservative-run authority is already developing a multi-million-pound programme of savings, transformation and changes to service levels. But Cllr Campbell said those measures would not be enough to fill the financial black hole.

The council says it is already one of Britain’s leanest local authorities, pointing to its recognition by local government publication The MJ as the country’s most productive council earlier this year.

Its proposed challenge will argue that the funding reforms create a barrier to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of local people. Cllr Campbell said she wanted to exhaust every possible avenue before imposing cuts and tax increases.

Residents can join the fightback by responding to the Council’s online consultation before it closes on Sunday, 4th October. https://consult.rbkc.gov.uk/communities/fairer-funding-review/

The RBKC council has not yet revealed which services could be cut or how much council tax may rise.

If you took the summer off from football following England’s sorry exit from the World Cup, here’s The Citizen’s “idiot’s guide” to get you effortlessly back up to speed with the 11 new faces at The Bridge.

Indeed, it has been a bustling – and financially busting – closed season: £328m has been spent on transfers, but £519m has been generated from sales and loans. The selling of Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City for £125m made all the headlines, but here’s what else has been going on…

First off, Xabi Alonso signed his four-year managerial contract on 1st July. The Spaniard has previously coached Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen and his work is already underway coaching the squad in their pre-season. With Chelsea concluding last season’s Premier League in 10th, Alonso has his work cut out.

Morgan Rogers, 23, tops the expensive transfers at £117m. An attacking midfield from Aston Villa, he has already scored his first goal for the club.

Maxence Lacroix – the French 26-year-old centre-back from Crystal Palace – cost £52m. He began his six-year contract at the end of July and has already been credited with an assist against Fulham.

Also in July, Marco Palestra joins Chelsea from Atalanta for £47 million. The 21-year-old right-back starts his seven-year contract off the back of a successful loan spell at Italian side Cagliari.

Geovany Quenda takes the title of youngest transfer in at just 19, joining from Sporting CP at £43m to play as a winger for the Blues.

Valentín Barco, 22, joins the central midfield from Strasbourg at £34m. His biggest test might be winning over the fans – home and away – following his ill-judged and unsporting celebrations during the World Cup.

Emmanuel Emegha, another Strasbourger, is one of three new strikers, coming in at £22m at the age of 23.

28-year-old Pep Chavarria has joined Chelsea in a five-year deal worth about £16 million. He joins the defence from Rayo Vallecano.

As for the latest transfer coming on 30th August, Emiliano Martinez makes it two from Villa, costing a touch less than his counterpart at £7.5m. He joins the squad in goal and played the day the transfer was announced in a victory over Brighton & Hove Albion. He will wear No.26 – the number made famous by Chelsea legend John Terry, so Emil has big boots to fill.

Danny Welbeck transferred from Brighton & Hove Albion at £5m with the hope that the 35-year-old will bring some seasoned experience to the pitch.

At almost the ‘cheapest’ – should we be allowed to use that term at all given yesterday’s records? – Dastan Satpayev is the goal-scoring hope from Kairat costing the club £3.4m, but who is on loan to Burnley for this season.

And finally, from the World Cup squad, Jordan Henderson, 36, joins the central midfielders – from Brentford. He made headlines for breaking an arm after tackling an advertising hoarding during the World Cup, so the club are hoping for more positive press surrounding the 36-year-old. After leaving Brentford, Henderson exited as a ‘free agent’ hence the lack of transfer fee with Brentford.

Now over to you, Xabi. The ball is in your court…

The format is simple: Four new 15-minute plays are commissioned to reflect a specific theme and the actors and director are given just 12 hours of rehearsal time to hone their production. All plays are performed in one night, with the audience voting for their favourite via on-stage ballot boxes.

Pressure has been an instant hit since launching professionally two years ago and has sold-out all its four shows. The Chelsea Citizen attended two events last year in Hackney and was struck by the quality of the writing, the depth of the performances and by the all-round buzz that was generated amongst the audience. This is why we have worked with Campbell and Roach and their team at 2nd Quarter Productions to bring Pressure to the Chelsea Theatre as part of this year’s Arts Festival.

For one night only, the winners of the previous shows will compete in an All-Stars play-off on 18th September. In the run up to the big night, The Citizen sat down to chat with the men feeling the pressure…

Pressure producers Gregor Roach, left, and Arthur Campbell.

Tell us about the Pressure format and what people can expect…

Gregor Roach: Pressure is first and foremost a competitive theatre event showcasing new writing. We get writers to submit a 15-minute play based around a specific theme, and then select four to put on as part of our night. We then attach a director and cast of actors to each one and give them 12 hours of rehearsal to bring the play to life. 

Arthur Campbell: After each performance, the audience votes for their favourite play. We tally up the votes and after the final performance the winner gets free drinks and a trophy – and the coveted Golden Skull. For All-Stars, we have taken the winning play from each of our last four nights, and they will go up against each other to be crowned “Best of the Best’!

Why the Chelsea Arts Festival and what does it mean for you to be putting your show on in Chelsea?

GR: It means a hell of a lot for us to be putting on Pressure in Chelsea. We’re honoured to join the Chelsea Arts Festival and be part of a line-up that includes Indhu Rubasingham of the National Theatre and stars like Asa Butterfield and Tamsin Greig. Both of us know Chelsea well, having spent a lot of time there in our adolescence. Although we’re both now North London dwellers, it’s fantastic to be bringing our show West to reach an entirely new audience.

What do you think of the Chelsea Theatre stage and set up?

AC: We love the Chelsea Theatre stage. Earlier this year, we went to one of the Nice n’ Spiky comedy nights and it was a blast. The stage set-up perfectly suits our show, so it’s an exciting prospect. Playhouse East, which we have used before, is very pared back. The Chelsea Theatre has a lot more to offer, especially with its tech rig. It will be fascinating to see how Chelsea can elevate the shows. 

Talk us through the making of the Pressure format…

GR: I believe Arthur came up with the specifics, including the name and the competitive aspect. It’s a common thing to put on a scratch night with lots of different writers, directors and actors, when you are just starting out in the industry, but we wanted to create a format that was more polished and thrilling in its own right.

This meant carving out the same amount of rehearsal time for all the shows, so they had parity. We also assign a theme for each show night, to help give the audiences something to focus on and make it all feel more cohesive. Limiting each play to 15-minutes gives a decent amount of time to get into the meat of a story, but it is also snappy enough to give plenty of variety within an hour. The competitive edge creates an added buzz.

Why is it so successful, what does it bring that is different?

GR: A big part of it is bringing the audience into the world of theatre, especially people who don’t feel historically like theatre is a big interest for them. I think theatre can feel like a very gate-kept, exclusive industry – so many of our friends who work in the corporate world are excited about what we do, but don’t really engage with it too often. Give the audience the chance to have their voice heard by voting for which play they like best really makes them engage with theatre. 

AC: We have a bit of a logline that expresses our philosophy around our productions:  We make theatre for those who love it – and for those who think they don’t!

We’ve had so many people, sometimes even first-time theatre goers, tell us that they didn’t know plays could be this much fun! We’ve generally found in our generation that uninitiated theatre-goers often have a preconception of theatre as boring, uncomfortable, expensive nights out. Pressure shows that theatre can be snappy, sexy and thrilling – without breaking the bank.

Tell me a bit about your backgrounds…

GR: Funnily enough, both of us have remarkably similar backgrounds, which we only discovered after we set up Pressure together! I was born in Boston to an American dad and English mum, but grew up in Surrey. I was an avid member of my local youth theatre as a teenager. I loved history so much that I decided to study it at university. I was lucky enough to get into Oxford, where I continued doing plenty of student theatre. That’s where I first met Arthur. After university, I moved to New York for a year, training as an actor there, then back to Oxford to complete a master’s at Oxford School of Drama.

AC: My dad is also American and it’s a nice coincidence that both Gregor and I have close ties to the North-East of the US. We share a dream to ultimately take our theatre there at some point. My journey towards theatre was a little more meandering than Gregor’s. I only started acting in my second year of university. I spent most of my school years locked into music, which I went on to study at Oxford. I was a chorister at Westminster Cathedral as a kid and continued singing in choirs pretty much daily until I left my choral scholarship at New College to pursue acting. I still teach piano and music remains an enormous part of my life, but since leaving university my career-focus has been on acting and producing.

What work have you done and want to do going forward?

GR: We’re currently working on our first full-length play as a production company, with one of the writers who won Pressure. A quick shout out to Ollie Woolf – he’s a legend! Our plan is to do a run in London next Spring. We have a producer friend based in Amsterdam who is going to help us bring it there for a week as well. It will be our first foray into international theatre making.

How do you work as a team?

GR: Funnily enough, Arthur and I spent a long time delegating the responsibilities at the beginning of our work together. I naturally gravitate towards the logistics and operations side of things – making spreadsheets, ordering all the submissions and self-tapes, and arranging the rehearsal slots. Arthur, on the other hand, is the head of marketing, coming up with ideas for promo videos on socials, video editing and graphic design. It’s a difficult job for a man addicted to Instagram, but he makes it work!

AC: Gregor is a mastermind of logistics, and his stamina for admin is something to behold. I find the creative, problem-solving and people management element of producing really fulfilling. It does amaze me that despite our separate work and life commitments we have established the well-oiled machine that is Second Quarter Productions. I think we’ve landed in our roles quite nicely. It should be said that we are very comfortable leaning on each other to step-in when the other is overloaded – even if that unfortunately means I have to write a few emails here and there. 

Even though you are committed North-Londoners – Booo – do you have any memories or associations of Chelsea?

AC: There is one big one! In my late teens, I may or may not have been kicked out of Club 151 [now The Rex Rooms] on the King’s Road because an unnamed ex-girlfriend reached over the counter of the bar to steal a bottle of vodka. Let’s just say that I have not been back since!

GR: As a Liverpool fan, my first experience of watching them play was at Stamford Bridge on 31st October 2015. A friend who had Chelsea season tickets brought me along. I was sat in the Home end, and when Liverpool scored I instinctively jumped out of my seat, only to be dragged back down by my friend to save me from being beaten up by some Chelsea hooligans. 

What is the big dream for Pressure?

AC: Our dream for Pressure is to turn it into a touring, scalable production that serves as a franchise platform for emerging artists nationwide. Audiences will come because they will know that we consistently put on great work. We want to be known and respected for taking on early-career playwrights, directors and actors and for giving them their first credit out of drama school. This in turn will bring together a whole community of artists who will hopefully go on to collaborate in future on projects. We want Pressure to be an all-round accelerator for talent and theatre!

Tell me your dream casting for a Pressure play – sky’s the limit – and who would direct?

GR: Oooh, that’s a good one! I think we’d stick it on at The Globe, for that amphitheatrical atmosphere. I’d want Sam Mendes directing a farcical comedy caper about three men (Daniel Rigby, Oliver Chris and Hammed Animashaun) trying to win the hand of a fair maiden (Rosie Sheehy). 

AC: Tough to top that, but here goes! A hush-hush, one night performance in the basement bar of the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. Alexander Zeldin to direct and Gary Oldman to star in a play about a man who can’t escape the devastating familial and professional consequences of his penchant for authentic, English cask-ales.

Crikey, what amazing ideas! I hope that The Chelsea Citizen will be the promoter for both those shows. Here’s to a stunning night on the 18th…

All average photos © Rob McGibbon

The Chelsea Citizen presents Pressure at The Chelsea Theatre. 7.30pm, Friday 18th September. Book HERE

The Chelsea Theatre at World’s End Place

A sleep out is a great way to raise money for the charity whilst also giving people a stark glimpse into the difficult life so many face on the streets of London every night.

No doubt compounded by the cost-of-living crisis, homelessness in London is at a record high with Glass Door Homeless Charity caseworkers supporting more than 2,000 people a year.

So, on 9th October, more than 100 people are expected to sleep out at the Duke of York Square in Chelsea in the hope of raising £100,000.

Glass Door Homeless Charity Sleep Out 2025

All money raised – with the further support of their sponsor Cadogan Estates – will go to help fund Glass Door’s emergency winter night shelters and its team of caseworkers.

To put any money raised into tangible context: £34 can give a homeless person a safe place to sleep for the night, plus a hot evening meal and breakfast the next day;  £59 will provide 20 people a hot evening meal and breakfast.

The charity’s vision is to reach a future where no one experiences homelessness in London, and they have spent 25 years helping thousands of people find a route out of homelessness.

Jo Carter, CEO of Glass Door Homeless Charity, said: “Our Annual Sleep Out brings friends, neighbours, colleagues and families together with one shared purpose: to help people who have nowhere to call home.

“Every pound raised helps us provide the support people need to leave homelessness behind and rebuild their lives. It’s a powerful reminder of what we can achieve when a community comes together with compassion.”

For more information and to register your interest visit HERE 

Watch a video about the great Sleep Out initiative HERE  

For long the preserve of English Heritage there are now many other commemorative plaque schemes across London. Individuals too can join in the fun, researching and memorialising the history of their own home, place of work or street.  

And now a striking new blue plaque has appeared on Glebe House, in Glebe Place SW3, to mark a story of defiance, deception and an escape worthy of a first-rate thriller.

The plaque, installed by homeowner Sandra de Laszlo, honours the formidable Emmeline Pankhurst and a little-known clash that unfolded outside the house more than a century ago.

“I put it up about nine months ago,” said Sandra, “but it’s something I’d been thinking about for a long time — inspired by the extraordinary bravery and commitment of the suffragettes.”

Glebe House is the scene of what came to be called the Battle of Glebe Place.

It is just before 5pm on a cold February evening in 1914. A crowd of around 1,000 people has gathered, filled with anticipation. They have come to see Emmeline Pankhurst — then the most wanted woman in Britain — challenge the establishment to let women have the vote. 

Emmeline moves on to the balcony to address the crowd: poised, defiant, dressed in black. But she is living on borrowed time. Though free on licence, she is banned from speaking in public — and the police are in the crowd waiting for the right moment to pounce. 

As the meeting ends, a group of women emerges from the house, shielding a veiled figure the police are meant to believe is Emmeline. Officers move in. Then chaos erupts.

Police later claimed they were attacked with clubs as the women fought to protect the decoy. A full-scale scuffle breaks out as officers force their way through the crowd. In the mêlée, uncertainty reigns: where is Emmeline?

For hours, the police keep watch, unsure if their target is still inside. They have been outmanoeuvred.

The house where Pankhurst sought sanctuary

It is not until the following day that the real escape unfolds. As a car pulls up outside, Emmeline’s bodyguards launch a sudden diversion, rushing the police line. In that split second of confusion, she makes her move — climbing into the vehicle and disappearing down the King’s Road, free for now. But her freedom does not last.

Just two weeks later, speaking in Glasgow, she is brutally beaten by police before being dragged back to Holloway Prison. There, she immediately goes on hunger strike — one of many acts of resistance that would define her life.

Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) was no ordinary campaigner. Founder of the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903, she helped turn the fight for women’s suffrage into a national and international crusade. 

After years of frustration at political indifference Emmeline and her daughter Christabel 

pushed the movement into more militant action — from protests to window-smashing and arson — tactics that divided the suffrage movement as some feared it was turning public opinion against them.

The government’s response was brutal. Hundreds of women were arrested, assaulted, and subjected to force-feeding; the ‘horrible outrage of the gag and feeding tube’ — a practice widely condemned at the time as barbaric.

Emmeline had many connections to Chelsea. A network of local supporters provided funds and places to hide when she was on the run. Glebe House itself became one such refuge, thanks to former owners Gladys Schütze and her husband, who opened their doors to the cause.

Emmeline’s youngest daughter Sylvia also a leading activist and the artist whose designs influenced much of the Suffragette’s campaign material, lived for a time at 43 Park Walk and has a plaque at 120 Cheyne Walk, the most important of her addresses to survive in London. Emmeline is buried in Brompton Cemetery, Chelsea.

Emmeline Pankhurst’s grave in Brompton Cemetery

Historian Dr Emelyne Godfrey later pieced together the dramatic events at Glebe House while researching the bodyguards who protected suffragette leaders in her book “Mrs Pankhurst’s Bodyguards”— women trained to fight and when required to take on the police.

Now, more than a century on, that moment of resistance is at last commemorated.

Thanks to Sandra’s determination, passers-by can stop outside Glebe House and glimpse a story that might otherwise have been lost — a story of courage, confrontation and a fight that played a part in changing the course of history.

As Emmeline Pankhurst put it at the time, they were fighting so that “every little girl born into the world will have an equal chance with her brothers”.

And on this quiet Chelsea street, that fight still echoes.

From 1st-4th October the Chelsea History Festival celebrates its eighth year with more than 100 different events across three major heritage institutions – Royal Hospital Chelsea, the National Army Museum, and the Physic Garden. 

As part of the festival, guide Emily Laurence Baker will be leading a number of walks including one that uncovers the lives and legacies of women who helped shape Chelsea. Depending on the route she takes, the plaque to the Battle of Glebe Place may be visited.

The Chelsea Citizen is proud to be the media partner for this year’s history festival

Whether you are professional or amateur, sweet-toothed or savoury-inclined, the popular Bun Awards – hosted annually by Royal Warrant-holders Partridges of Gloucester Road – are open to everyone, with a special section returning for Under 18s.

What better way to celebrate the British classic Chelsea Bun than to pit contestants against each other, competing not only for the best taste, but also for aesthetic and ‘viral’ appeal that will see the buns rise to the top of social media.

The challenge? Create the ultimate spiced bun to fit year’s guiding twist – “Traditional Chelsea Buns Meet Innovation”.

With the first Chelsea Bun said to have appeared in 1700, it has seen over three centuries of fine-tuning. Some opt for lemon peel, while others lean more towards cinnamon or spice: the mix is up to you.

The competition is free to enter but entrants are encouraged to donate to this year’s chosen charity: React, a charity that helps children with life-limiting illnesses who are living in financially disadvantaged households in the UK.

The Best Chelsea Bun Baker 2025: Fitzbillies of Cambridge

With prizes for both amateur and professional bakers, plus an Instagram competition running alongside, there are opportunities for all.

Prizes up for grabs include a selection of cash and Partridges hampers, with the overall Live Tasting Winner to receive £250 and – most important of all – to be awarded the prestigious accolade of Best Chelsea Bun Baker 2026.

Those in charge of judging the delicious entries include TV and radio presenter Mark Wogan and Alice Ryan, senior editor of lifestyle magazine Velvet. More judges will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Entries for the live competition must be delivered on 20th September whilst Instagram offerings must be submitted by 18th September using the hashtag #worldchelseabunawards and tagging @world.chelsea.bun.awards.

More information and full entry requirements at www.worldchelseabunawards.com.

The Conservative-run council, which Labour lost control of in May, is understood to be considering the extraordinary increase after warning that its government funding is set to fall by around 40%.

Town Hall chiefs say the borough is facing the highest planned borrowing in its history, while its reserves could be exhausted within three years unless urgent action is taken.

The extraordinary prospect of council tax rises of this magnitude in Wandsworth have raises a worrying question closer to home — could RBKC Council eventually be forced down the same road?

RBKC is facing its own financial crisis after warning that changes to Government funding will cost the borough £108 million over four years to 2029/30 — a reduction equivalent to more than 40% of the budget it directly controls.

Labour politicians in Wandsworth have seized on the new figures, accusing the Tory administration of “planning Britain’s biggest ever council tax increase”. But the Tories have hit back, blaming both the Labour Government and the previous Labour administration for leaving the borough facing a financial cliff edge.

A Wandsworth Tory spokesman said: “The Labour Government is slashing 40% of Wandsworth Council’s funding, leaving us with the worst cash loss of any council in the country. At the same time, the last Labour administration in Wandsworth had spending plans that would have used all our reserves and bankrupted the borough within 18 months – leaving us with a staggering budget gap of £137 million.”

The main council chamber at Wandsworth Town Hall

Wandsworth has traditionally enjoyed some of the lowest council tax bills in Britain, with residents currently paying around 0.1 per cent of the value of their homes each year. But those historically low bills, combined with mounting pressure on council finances, have left the new administration contemplating a rise on a scale rarely, if ever, seen before.

The row comes amid wider concern across London over changes to the way Whitehall distributes money to local authorities. London MPs have warned that the reforms could leave capital boroughs particularly vulnerable as they struggle with rising costs and increasing demand for services.

The looming battle over Wandsworth’s finances will also intensify the political row over Andy Burnham’s plans for local government funding, with London boroughs warning they could lose out heavily under the new system.

For Wandsworth residents, however, the immediate question is much simpler — just how much more will they be asked to pay?