Reidents of Hackney are set to elect a new mayor for the second time in two years today as polls open for the borough’s residents to vote for a successor to Philip Glanville, who resigned in September.

Glanville resigned after photos of him with disgraced former councillor Tom Dewey surfaced, despite Glanville denying a close friendship. Dewey, arrested just before his election last Spring, was given a suspended sentence in August after admitting possessing indecent images of children. Deputy Mayor Antoinette Bramble has been standing in as Mayor temporarily since then.  

Votes will be counted on Friday, and the results announced by Hackney Council when counting is complete, which is expected to be later in the day.  

Six candidates are running for the position:   

Caroline Woodley (Labour Party)  

Peter Smorthit (Independent) 

Simche Steinberger (The Conservative Party)  

Simon de Deney (Liberal Democrats)  

Annoesjka Valent (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition)  

Zoë Garbett (Green Party) 

The Labour Party won last year’s election with a 59.1% lead of the vote, closely followed by The Green Party, led by Garbett, who is running again this year.  

But which policies are taking precedence for the candidates this year, and what is most important to Hackney’s residents?  EastLondonLines took the streets of Hackney to find out what residents want a new Mayor to prioritise.   Many approached were not voting or did not know about the election. With this in mind the turnout could be similar to that of last years election which was just 34.06%.   At a hustings event earlier this week, only three of the six candidates turned up.

Maria Flynn, a 66-year-old retired Hackney Central resident has lived in the borough for over 50 years. She said she hoped the new Mayor would prioritise young people and create more affordable activities to keep them occupied and subsequently lower crime levels. 

“I want the new Mayor to be for the people, particularly young people. There’s not much here for them.”  

“My Grandson plays basketball in Hackney and it’s £22 a session. That’s a lot of money to pay per week if you’re a single parent.”  

Flynn said she has always been a Labour supporter and hoped Woodley would make changes for the community if she gets voted in, including making housing more affordable.  

Affordable housing was a central issue raised by residents when speaking to ELL.  Richard Harrison, a 45 year-old Artist from Stoke Newington said “Hackney is a very expensive place. It’d be a shame for the culture to be erased because of accommodation being so unaffordable for residents.”   

Harrison said he always votes and thinks it’s an important thing for residents to do.  

The Mayoral By-Election Booklet summarises the positions of the candidates apart from Conservative Candidate Simche Steinberger, who did not include a campaign statement.