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

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

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

Green councillor Alastair Binnie-Lubbock said the tactical agreement aims to give both parties “the best chance of winning”.

“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

Speaking to the LDRS, he said: “I personally think opposition is very healthy for Hackney, because currently it’s run like a dictatorship."

Cllr Steinberger argued that since the scrutiny 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 he would push for affordable, high-quality new social housing, support for independent businesses and improved waste collection and sustainability.

In her election material, 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 detwin 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 a social media post.

On the subject of housing, Cllr 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.

Councillors 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 September 12.

The candidates for the London Fields and Stoke Newington wards, are:

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

 

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

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, September 4, 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.