Romford Has Been Abandoned, and Residents Know Who They Blame

Romford isn't broken. It has been abandoned.

“Romford isn’t what it used to be.” It is a phrase I hear almost every day. Sometimes it is dismissed as nostalgia, or the familiar complaint that every generation makes about change. However, the results of my annual Romford Summer Survey suggest something much deeper. There is now an overwhelming consensus that Romford has become a worse place to live.

This year, I asked residents to look back over the last 25 years. More than 500 people responded, giving us a clear picture of how people feel about the town, its safety, its biggest problems and its political leadership.

The headline results

The results are stark. Some 93.3% believe Romford is worse than it was 25 years ago, including 80.5% who say it is “much worse”. Just 4.1% believe it is better.

When asked how safe they feel in Romford town centre, 60.2% said unsafe: 34.2% fairly unsafe and 26% very unsafe. Only 17.8% said they felt safe.

Residents were also asked to select the three biggest issues facing Romford. Crime and antisocial behaviour came first on 79.5%, followed by overdevelopment on 58.4%, GP and NHS services on 41.2%, empty shops on 39.3% and town-centre cleanliness on 33.7%.

Traffic and parking scored 19.7%, roads and pavements 17%, homelessness 16.6%, housing 9.5%, parks and green spaces 4.1%, and public transport just 1.7%.

Twenty-five years of the same politics

Romford has had the same MP for 25 years.

When residents were asked to rate his performance from zero to ten, the average score was just 3.61. A quarter awarded zero, while only 7% gave a nine or ten. Whatever one’s party politics, that is a profound expression of disappointment with the representation Romford has received.

Measured using the same groupings as a Net Promoter Score, the result is –74.5: 81.5% are detractors, 11.5% are passive and only 7% are promoters. A Net Promoter Score measures the balance between strong supporters and strong critics, producing a score between –100 and +100. Trusted and widely used by organisations including Apple, Microsoft and the NHS, it provides a simple, consistent measure of public satisfaction.

That is not a marginal warning from a few habitual critics. It reflects a stagnant political landscape in which too many residents feel ignored.

For too long, Romford’s political leadership has behaved as though objecting to every change is a substitute for having a plan. It has not worked. Empty shops have remained empty, public confidence

has fallen and people feel less safe.

At the last election, just 21% of Romford's electorate voted for our current MP (before he then betrayed them and switched party without their consent), with him winning just 35% of the vote on a 60% turnout. A majority of the town rejected him as our MP, and this consensus continues.

Romford is not broken beyond repair. It has been abandoned by those who should have been making its case.

Romford needs a new vision

There is much to be positive about. Romford is exceptionally well placed. We have fast Elizabeth line and National Rail connections, a major bus network and a large catchment stretching across east London and Essex. With the right mix of shops, food, leisure, culture and attractive public spaces, our high street can buzz again.

We are also a growing family borough. Between 2011 and 2021, Havering’s population of children aged 0–17 increased by 15.2%, and more than one in five residents is now a child. Our schools, youth services, healthcare, public spaces and town centre must reflect that future.

That means investing in safety, cleanliness and enforcement; demanding good development rather than opposing everything; supporting independent businesses; protecting what makes Romford distinctive; and giving young people reasons to build their lives here.

The survey is a warning, but it should also be a turning point.

Romford needs new leadership, stronger representation and a confident plan for the next 25 years.

We must stop managing decline and start investing in our future.