Green and Labour mayoral candidates quizzed by local business owners at ‘Unite with the Guild’ accountability assembly
All together now: Traders with the Labour party mayoral candidate Caroline Woodley (left) and the Green party mayoral candidate, Zoë Garbett (right) at the East End Trades Guild accountability assembly. Photograph: Samuel Lord
Mayoral candidates for the Green and Labour parties agreed to several pledges set out by local business owners and community activists at a ‘Unite with the Guild’ accountability assembly event on Wednesday 29 April.
Organised by the East End Trades Guild (EETG), the event at Shoreditch Town Hall saw Labour mayoral incumbent and candidate Caroline Woodley and Green party candidate Zoë Garbett respond to four pledges intended to protect Hackney’s local businesses.
East End Trades Guild has already established London Trades Guild Community Land Trust (CLT). A CLT is a non-profit organisation allowing for the community to own and manage land.
The first pledge called for the compensation of lost local business space by committing 30,000 square feet of publicly-owned space by 2028.
Both Woodley and Garbett pledged to find a site before April 2028 as part of the 30,000 square feet.
The second pledge to which the candidates committed called for increased opportunities for small businesses and assurances that that larger businesses would subcontract locally when feasible, keeping “Hackney money within Hackney”.
Woodley claimed that Hackney already had one of the better systems for helping small businesses and she noted that “larger businesses can act as anchor institutions” for small local ones.
Garbett agreed, referencing her own work in the NHS to ensure that small local providers could be supported.
A third pledge asked the candidates to provide a framework for social value leases. This framework is intended to recognise the social value of a property based on its benefit to the local community, including supporting local business, offering residents employment and retaining community wealth.
A similar framework is already in operation in Haringey, where discounted leases are provided based on the agreed social value.
Garbett described having worked with small businesses and with a Conservative member of the London Assembly to investigate social value.
Woodley agreed on the importance of social value and said she was interested in looking into how social value leasing would be sustainable.
Finally, the candidates agreed, if elected, to meet with the EETG after 100 days to discuss their progress on these pledges.
Woodley said she was “very happy to make this commitment”. Garbett concurred, saying she would be “super transparent.”
The 120-capacity event was full, and participants included apprentices under business owner Len Maloney and the Ridley Road Traders, who helped deliver the pledges.
East End Trades Guild co-founder Krissie Nicolson introduced the apprentices from Maloney’s 40-year-old local garage business which was evicted 17 months ago and forced to relocate.
Yusief Gebremariam described the move as having “a huge impact on us, a lot of our customers were very local, so now it’s hard to get customers back,” and added that “it’s not only about money, it’s about belonging, and he belonged here.”
At the event Woodley was approached by a number of traders from Ridley Road Shopping Village, who engaged her in what was, at times, a heated discussion.
One trader said: “We’ve been supported by Zoë [Garbett]. We haven’t seen much from the people that are in power”.
Woodley maintained that it was the landlord, rather than the council that was responsible for the situation, much to the disapproval of many in the audience.
“We’ve had zero response to our requests for the mayor” said Kieran, one of the Ridley Road campaigners.
“What people are asking for is direct communication, and for communication with the community to be prioritised above the landlord and the police”, he added.
When asked whether Woodley had been responsive to their demands, he said: “She had to be responsive. We made sure to demonstrate how urgent the situation is and how passionate, particularly the black community, is about no longer being ignored”.
Woodley told the Citizen that she felt some progress had been made: “They’ve shared their strength of feeling with me. I tried to explain that I set up a meeting in a way that I hoped would get everyone to a good place by having all the people involved… so we can get to creating a plan to refurbish and reopen on the first of June.”
Responding to the criticisms levelled at her, she said: “What I’m hearing tonight is, one of the main blockers is that not everybody is getting that space offered back to them, which is a dispute with the landlord, but they would just like more support from me as mayor to get past that place of dispute”.
However, several business owners appeared more confident in Garbett’s commitments. “She’s not just saying, she’s being present in the space that needs to be thought about,” one told the Citizen.
Nicolson said that the Conservative mayoral candidate had been invited to the accountability assembly, but that he was not able to attend.
The Hackney mayoral candidates are listed below in alphabetical order by surname:
Vahid Almasi, Reform UK
Zoë Garbett, Green party
Tareke Gregg, Conservative party
Eva Steinhardt, Liberal Democrats
Caroline Woodley, Labour and Co-operative party
The seven political parties contesting council ward seats in Hackney are listed below in alphabetical order:
Conservative party
Green party
Hackney Independent Socialist Collective
Labour party
Liberal Democrats
Reform UK
Trade Union and Socialist Coalition
All voters aged 18 and over across the borough can vote to elect a mayor by a first-past-the-post system.
Elections are being held on Thursday 7 May 2026 for Hackney mayor and Hackney Council, with polling open from 7am – 10pm.
The results will be announced on Friday 8 May.
Voters will have to produce photo identification, such as a driving licence or passport.
Note: This article was amended