Greens and Independents unite in bid to oust Tories as largest opposition in Hackney

Electoral pact adds drizzle of optimism to campaign. Photograph: courtesy Alastair Binnie-Lubbock

Hackney’s Green and Independent parties will endorse each other’s candidates in the upcoming council by-elections in a joint bid to replace the Conservatives as the largest opposition group.

The Green Party will not contest the London Fields seat in the elections on 12 September, throwing their weight behind Independent candidate Sarah Byrne.

In Stoke Newington, Green candidate Liam Davis will not be challenged by the Independent Socialists, who will instead be door-knocking to help secure his victory.

Green Cllr Alastair Binnie-Lubbock said the tactical agreement aims to give both parties “the best chance of winning” so that they can better challenge the Labour administration on “shared values, policies and concerns”.

“We already provide all of the opposition scrutiny, as the Conservatives choose not to take up their seats on scrutiny panels and commissions,” he said. 

“We already work closely with the Independent Socialists and often work closely with our Labour colleagues where we find alignment. 

“For example, we’ve co-authored motions with Labour councillors and called in cabinet decisions with all parties on the council.”

Conservative Cllr Simche Steinberger was sanguine about the prospective wins of either party in the upcoming race: “I personally think opposition is very healthy for Hackney, because currently it’s run like a dictatorship.”

Speaking to the Citizen, he said: “The Greens could form a coalition with 25 parties, but we’re still going to be there to fight our case.

“But unlike the Conservatives, the Greens still attend the scrutiny committee, which in the old days was run by the opposition but is now controlled by Labour,” he said.

Steinberger argued that since the committee is now run by the majority party, it suffers from a lack of monitoring, making it virtually ineffective.

“This does not help people, and this is why we refuse to sit,” he added.

In the announcement of the collaboration on the party’s website, Green candidate Liam Davis said as councillor he would push for affordable, high-quality new social housing, support for independent businesses and improved waste collection and sustainability.

In a social media post, Independent candidate for London Fields Sarah Byrne said she is “fighting cuts, for decent housing, campaigning to divest from arms firms used in Gaza” and to de-twin the borough from Haifa in Israel.

“I am standing to shake Hackney Labour council out of its complacency and fight for the resources our borough needs,” Byrne stated in her campaign literature.

On the subject of housing, Steinberger said: “The whole Hackney housing system is totally wrong. They’ve recently taken roughly half of the people off the waiting list—people who have been waiting years to be housed.

“This is something we’ve been fighting for, but the Greens haven’t even been talking about it.”

He added that the Conservatives in Hackney are focused on local issues, such as school closures.

Cllr Binnie-Lubbock said joining forces with Independents signals that both groups “believe in doing politics differently, and working together for the benefit of Hackney’s residents”.

The Independent Socialists formed in May this year, when three Labour councillors quit the party in protest over local and national matters.

Cllrs Fliss Premru (Clissold), Claudia Turbet-Delof and Penny Wrout (Victoria) denounced the party’s “absence of progressive thinking at national leadership level”.

The trio, who had been suspended from Hackney Labour after voting in favour of hearing a motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, also claimed the local party is “stifled by a lack of internal democracy, transparency and scrutiny”.

Both upcoming by-elections were triggered by the resignations of Labour councillors.

Former deputy speaker Lee Laudat-Scott, 48, quit his London Fields seat ahead of appearing in Thames Magistrates Court on 18 July, where he was charged with “intentionally touching” a child under 13.

In Stoke Newington, Mete Coban resigned his post as Labour councillor to take up his City Hall appointment as Sadiq Khan’s new deputy mayor for environment and energy.

The by-elections are to take place on 12 September.

The candidates for the London Fields and Stoke Newington wards, are, respectively and in alphabetical order, by surname:

London Fields ward:

Sarah Byrne, Independent

Peter Friend, Liberal Democrats

George Gooch, Labour party

Diana Mikolajewska, Conservative party

Olivia Taylor, Workers Party – For Britain, For Gaza

Stoke Newington ward:

Tan Bui, Independent

Liam Davis, Green party

Zak Davies-Khan, Labour party

Tareke Gregg, Conservative party

Thrusie Maurseth-Cahill, Liberal Democrats

Applications to register to vote must reach the Electoral Registration Officer by 12 midnight on 27 August 2024. Applications can be made online at gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Voters will need to show photo ID when voting in person.

Applications, amendments or cancellations of postal votes or cancellations or amendments of proxy votes must reach the Electoral Registration Officer at Electoral Services, Hackney Town Hall, Mare Street, London, E8 1EA by 5pm on 28 August 2024. Applications can be made online: Apply for a postal vote.

New applications to vote by proxy at this election must reach the Electoral Registration Officer at Hackney Town Hall, Mare Street, London, E8 1EA by 5pm on Wednesday, 4th September 2024.

Applications to vote by emergency proxy at this election must reach the Electoral Registration Officer at Electoral Services by 5pm on 4 September 2024.