Hackney mayoral election 2026: meet the Reform UK party candidate Vahid Almasi
Vahid Almasi, Reform UK’s mayoral candidate. Photograph: Reform UK Hackney mayoral campaign
Reform UK’s mayoral candidate for Hackney, Vahid Almasi, spoke with the Hackney Citizen in an exclusive interview ahead of the forthcoming local elections on 7 May.
With Reform UK having never held even a council seat in the borough, Almasi has positioned himself as an alternative to the status quo, looking to win over voters frustrated with the current council that he says has “failed to deliver.”
Although Almasi has no prior experience in politics, he claims that his background in finance provides him with a fresh perspective and attitude.
“A lot of [the other candidates] have already been in a position to make the right changes and they have not made them. I am coming from the real world, I may not understand the processes the way they do, but I am actually determined to make a change.”
His campaign focuses on six promises for Hackney:
- “Safer streets” – stronger police support and greater visible presence
- “Fight the rent monster” – stop residents being priced out of the borough
- “More homes” – end wasteful, “corrupt spending and bureaucracy”
- “Fix LTNs” – challenge poorly-planned Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
- “Stronger communities” – allow for families to thrive and stay long-term
- “Future-ready youth” – repurpose unused public spaces into innovation hubs
Central to Almasi’s policies are the issues of cost of living and housing, which are key talking points in the local elections.
He vowed to bring “financial discipline” to the borough by cutting waste and to push for “smarter use of unused council land”.
“There are a lot of unused council owned properties and plots, so I want to make sure when I am mayor, as soon as possible, we can review all the land and increase housing supply quickly.”
Almasi’s outsider status may be overshadowed by the Green party’s candidate, Zoë Garbett, who is poised to sweep up the majority of voters seeking an ‘alternative’ mayoralty.
The Reform UK candidate nevertheless denounced his competition as “radical and ridiculous”.
“If you ask me, I would say the Greens live in a fairy tale”, said Almasi.
“Whilst I am campaigning for safer streets, they are actually campaigning to legalise heroin and other substances that could increase crimes in our neighbourhoods.”
Almasi’s claims mirror those made by the Labour party and Reform UK during the Gorton and Denton by-election, in which contentious attack campaigns branded the Greens’ drug decriminalisation policies as “extreme and dangerous.”
Such attacks have been rebutted by Garbett, as “dishonest in many ways,” with the London Assembly Member clarifying that “the Green party’s policy is for legal control and regulation of all drugs.”
When asked if he thought Reform UK’s right-wing populist reputation may repel voters, Almasi said: “I think it can play a role, but I think that label is quite misunderstood and completely detached from reality.
“At the end of the day, I’m hoping that the people and the residents of Hackney will be more interested in results than the labels being circulated around.”
Almasi did not however, deviate from Reform UK’s hard-line stance on asylum, saying that he would choose to abandon the recently adopted Hackney Borough of Sanctuary Framework and Action Plan, if elected mayor.
“Hackney is a compassionate borough, and I am a proud resident of this borough, but I believe compassion must come with balance.
“Right now, local services are under real pressure and my responsibility as a mayor would be first and foremost to the residents of Hackney.”