A Green party councillor has quit within days of winning his seat because he was voted in against local government rules.
James Tilden was elected to represent Hackney Central ward with 1,681 votes following the council elections last Thursday (7 May), but his party failed to realise this breached local government law before making him their official candidate.
As a primary school teacher in the one of the borough’s community schools, Tilden is legally an employee of Hackney Council.
Under Section 80 of the Local Government Act 1972, teachers cannot become a member of a local authority if they are employed by or their job is confirmed by the same local authority.
A spokesperson for Hackney Green party told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) neither Tilden nor the party were “aware of this eligibility issue when we submitted his nomination”.
“As soon as we found this out, we informed Hackney Electoral Services and he stopped campaigning,” the spokesperson added.
However, under electoral law, ballots cannot be amended once the nomination deadline has passed, meaning there was no way to reverse his candidacy.
Tilden was not present at the count when the returning officer announced he had been elected. On Tuesday (12 May), a Hackney Council spokesperson confirmed to the LDRS that he had resigned as a councillor and a by-election would be held in Hackney Central “in due course”.
The LDRS understands the council is considering holding the Hackney Central by-election in tandem with a separate by-election in Dalston ward, triggered by Zoë Garbett’s election as mayor of Hackney.
Mayor Garbett also ran for re-election as a ward councillor for Dalston and won her seat, but did not take up this post, so that she could assume her new office as the borough’s executive leader.
She has resigned her London-wide seat on the London Assembly, which has been filled by Benali Hamdache.
The tumult in Hackney follows a similar in situation in Camden, where a local teacher also resigned immediately after his election as a Green party councillor on Friday.
Note: this article was amended at 14:00 on Thursday 14 May 2026. The previously article stated that Mayor Zoë Garbett resigned from her Dalston ward seat so she could take up office as the new Mayor of Hackney. However, she did not in fact resign - as she had not taken up her former ward seat again following her mayoral win. The article has been amended to reflect this.
