Local elections 2026: Independent Socialists unveil two candidates for Homerton
Heather Mendick (left) and Alana Heaney. Photograph: Hackney Independent Socialist Group
The Hackney Independent Socialist Group has signalled its ambitions for next year’s council elections with the announcement of two new candidates.
Alana Heaney and Heather Mendick will contest Homerton ward when voting takes place on 7 May 2026.
Heaney is a trustee of the Gascoyne One Community Centre and was previously a housing adviser for the London Irish Centre.
Standing alongside Mendick in a video posted on social media, Heaney said: “We’re both passionate about housing. We’re both passionate about community. We’re both passionate about the democratic process, and we want to be part of that.”
Alana Heaney and Heather Mendick will be standing to be councillors in Homerton ward in Hackney in next year’s local elections. We have three Hackney Independent Socialist councillors now. We will be working to increase that after May’s elections. pic.twitter.com/v8uZUOFQ0t
— Hackney Independent Socialist Group (@HackneyIndSG) June 28, 2025
Mendick is a seasoned local activist, most recently leading the Morning Lane People’s Space campaign, which is fighting for residents to be given a voice in the redevelopment of the Tesco site in central Hackney.
She said: “I am sick of asking Hackney Council, whether it be for more council housing or to end their complicity in Israel’s genocide in Palestine, and them just ignoring us. I really want to change that.”
The Town Hall has faced pressure to divest its pension fund businesses allegedly linked to war crimes in Palestine.
While the pension fund does not directly own stocks or shares in individual companies, the chair of the pensions committee, Cllr Kam Adams, previously said there were passive investments in “companies conducting business activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.
A council spokesperson last year told the Citizen that “any divestment solely on ethical grounds would be in breach of the Law Commission guidance”.
The Independent Socialists, who formed after splitting from Labour, have three councillors: Fliss Premru in Clissold, and Penny Wrout and Claudia Turbet-Delof in Victoria.
But they said they are “working to increase that” in next year’s elections.
Three Labour councillors currently fill the seats in Homerton ward: deputy mayor Cllr Guy Nicholson, cabinet member for finance Cllr Robert Chapman, and chair of the Town Hall’s audit committee, Cllr Anna Lynch.