The leader of Enfield Council has taken a dig at a Tory rival after a ‘birthday party’ for a pothole video went viral.
The clip titled ‘Enfield Labour Council Mega Pothole’s 1st Birthday’ was posted last week by Conservative councillor Alessandro Georgiou, and drew over 25,000 views across Facebook and Instagram.
Ergin Erbil, leader of Enfield Council and a member of the Labour Party, said: “Cllr Georgiou voted against extra investment in road repairs in February 2025. That decision should be kept in mind when considering their recent comments on social media.
“Previous Conservative governments cut over 60% of our budget over 14 years. The new Labour government has increased funding to Enfield including much more money to fix potholes.
“Our focus remains on getting the job done and achieving results for residents.”
Seen in the video holding a candlelit birthday cake, Cllr Georgiou joked the pothole “has now turned into a mini pond”.
The dent in question, located in a council-owned car park next to Bramley Sports Ground, is now over two metres wide.
Cllr Georgiou said: “The Labour Council benefited from when we (the Conservatives) were in government. We gave out hundreds of millions of pounds to local authorities to deal with potholes that they just never dealt with.
“From our perspective, where did that money go? If it did go to potholes, we haven’t seen it in Enfield.”
An Enfield teacher who works at the nearby Oaktree Special Education School described the road surface as ‘awful’.
They said: “Most of the cars parked here belong to workers at the school.”
A driver said about the potholes: “You really have to navigate them, especially if you have a small car.”
Data from Google Maps shows the pothole has been filled in at least twice since 2020, but has been in a damaged state since September 2024.
A spokesperson for Enfield Council said the Property Colleagues and Parks Team are currently looking at repairs for this area, and that the car park is a shared responsibility between the council and a local business.
Featured image credit: Cllr Alessandro Georgiou AM
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