Hackney Labour leftists join calls for Philip Glanville to quit as mayor

Hackney Mayor Philip Glanville, pictured at a council meeting in December 2022. Photograph: Julia Gregory

Appalled activists on the left of the Labour party have added to demands for Hackney Mayor Philip Glanville to resign.

Glanville has temporarily stepped aside after being suspended by Labour when a photo emerged of him at a Eurovision party with disgraced former councillor Tom Dewey on 14 May 2022 – just hours after he was told of Dewey’s arrest the month before.

The mayor had previously said he did not see Dewey after learning of the National Crime Agency’s investigation.

Last month, Tom Dewey was given a one-year suspended sentence and put on a 10-year sexual harm prevention order after admitting possession of 1,850 indecent images of children .

Glanville has apologised for his decision not to cancel the Eurovision party and to be there with Dewey, describing it as an “error of judgement”.

But Hackney’s Labour Left said: “Philip Glanville’s position as mayor is untenable after a fundamental breach of trust with party members and the Hackney electorate.”

They want him to stand aside and leave deputy mayor Anntoinette Bramble as a caretaker until the London Assembly elections in 2024.

It comes after an estimated 40 to 50 residents staged a protest at the Town Hall this week calling for Glanville to quit.

Hackney Greens have also tabled a motion of no confidence in the mayor.

The next mayoral election in Hackney is not due until 2026, and Glanville could remain as an independent should Labour uphold his suspension.

Labour Left activists said they are “appalled and disgusted” by Tom Dewey’s crimes and are concerned that he was a councillor for nearly two weeks.

Dewey was elected as a De Beauvoir representative on 5 May 2022 – six days after being arrested – and resigned on 16 May.

The council was told about the case on 13 May.

Party members asked questions when Dewey resigned, triggering a by-election, and were told that he had quit for personal reasons.

Activists criticised the local Labour party “for not dealing with the issue in an open, honest and transparent manner”.

They said: “Safeguarding should be put ahead of politics.”

They added: “Conveying the impression that his resignation was of no concern to anyone else in the party was wrong.

“This message diminishes the impact his actions will have had on many and the fact that for years they took place whilst he had the authority of numerous roles within the Labour party that gave him considerable standing and influence.”

Dewey was an agent in Hackney in the 2014 local and European elections and acted as Hackney South and Shoreditch MP Meg Hillier’s agent in the 2019 General Election.

He also served as secretary of the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency party and branch secretary of De Beauvoir Labour.

He had also worked in the mayor’s office, helping him and the cabinet, with a special interest in housing cases.

Party members claim that questions about safeguarding were shut down when they learned about the charges Dewey faced.

Labour has said it could not discuss the police investigation or legal proceedings whilst they were ongoing.

The activists want an independent inquiry into the Labour party’s role in dealing with Tom Dewey and what happened after he was arrested on 29 April last year.

They also called on the party to review its safeguarding policies.

Philip Glanville has been invited to comment.