Green Party announces Hackney Mayor candidate for 2026 – and her deputy

Hackney mayoral candidate Zoë Garbett and her nominated deputy Dylan Law. Photograph: Hackney Green party

Hackney Green party has revealed its candidate for the 2026 Hackney mayoral election with a joint ticket for leader and deputy leader.

Cllr Zoë Garbett is taking her third tilt at the top job in the borough following previous runs in 2023 and 2022, when she twice came second.

The former NHS worker currently represents Dalston as a ward councillor and is also a London-wide Assembly Member at City Hall.

Last year, Ms Garbett came fourth in the race against London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was re-elected for a third term.

Unlike most other London boroughs, Hackney’s mayor is directly elected which means the successful candidate does not need their party to be in control of the council to become its leader.

Hackney residents vote for who they want to be mayor as well as voting for their local ward councillor.

While the current Hackney mayor, Caroline Woodley is Labour and the party has a large majority, it is possible to to elect a mayor from a different party to that with the most elected councillors.

What a Green mayor would prioritise

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Cllr Garbett said she was “terrified of the climate emergency” underlined by the heatwaves that scorched the capital in July, and wants to see the borough transformed “in the same way places like Paris have been”.

Cllr Zoë Garbett will contest the position of Hackney Mayor next May. Photograph: Charlotte Gray 2024

“Hackney needs a mayor who is more consistent around the climate, because often the rhetoric is not matched by action. There are some areas where the council has made progress, but we want to see it embedded as the core of what we do.”

Ms Garbett said that while the wide-reaching rollout of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) in the borough “started off well in 2020”, the council’s decision-making remains “light touch” when it comes to resident engagement – which she argues is a fundamental flaw in the Labour administration.

On housing, for instance, the Greens’ co-leader sees the Town Hall as failing to be transparent or direct enough about the “shocking state” of social homes and the challenges the borough faces.

This was highlighted, she said, by the leadership’s response to a recent watchdog report which found the scale of Hackney’s failings on repairs and maintenance had left it an “outlier” compared to other councils.

To improve its lot, social housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway said the Town Hall needed to bring about “cultural change” and shake off its “positivity prism” which has overstated changes compared to the reality experienced by residents.

Mayor Woodley and her cabinet assured the public they were taking action to turn things around, but they have since been accused of complacency and faced criticism over plans to restructure the housing department.

‘There’s a disconnect’

Cllr Garbett said her approach would be to focus on first supporting council officers while being “really honest” about the scale of the challenges.

“There’s a disconnect between the narratives and the reality,” she said. “Residents are still being ignored, and putting staff straight into restructure is incredibly stressful for them. It’s just not the right thing at this point.”

The Greens’ co-leader said the council’s “erasure” of resident and community voices has been highlighted by its response to various campaigns.

These include the fight against the gentrification of Ridley Road market and calls for the Town Hall to divest its pension fund from companies linked to Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the West Bank – which led to a months-long encampment on its front door.

In July, Mayor Woodley wrote to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, urging him to “empower” Hackney to divest, but Cllr Garbett criticised the council’s “double-speak”, arguing that she and others had been “blocked on multiple occasions from debating divestment”.

Local government across London has had a mixed response to similar campaigns.

Boroughs like Hackney, Camden and Enfield argued that councils cannot selectively disentangle investments on ethical grounds, and are legally bound to prioritise financial returns for the pension fund.

But Cllr Garbett highlighted councils such as Islington, Waltham Forest and Kingston who have publicly committed to trying.

“Maybe it’s a lack of political will, but I really struggle to understand why we’re unable to make that political statement, especially since our neighbouring boroughs have,” she said.

“Residents know it can’t be done within a day, but they want that ethical commitment. If they say that, they would be so proud of their council.”

Deputy mayor role

Other radical changes she says she has already pushed for as councillor include reforming the council’s political structure, starting with the role of deputy mayor. Unlike the role of Hackney mayor, this position is not directly-elected but appointed from elected councillors.

If victorious, Cllr Garbett plans to scrap one of Hackney’s two deputy mayor posts and make 19-year-old education worker Dylan Law her second-in-command, provided that he wins his ward contest in Hackney Downs in May’s local elections.

Mr Law told the LDRS the “complete distrust between the council and most residents” had brought him into local activism and politics, arguing that families like his have been “let down” by the school system with little support from the council.

But he acknowledges the need to dispel doubts some may have about his age and political experience.

“I’m aware even from my own mum, and my nan, that there is scepticism around what I’m doing.

“The fact is, I represent my people accurately, transparently and adaptably, which I don’t think someone who is older who has moved to the borough and not spoken to people, not used the services that I’ve used, or faced the same kind of patronisation that I have, would do.”

Rather than a weakness, Mr Law says his youth proves his fitness for the job because it means he can “stay competent”, and has already proven his ability by getting this far.

“Don’t get me wrong: if I was running in Bournemouth or Exeter, I’d understand [the doubts]. But I’ve lived here my entire life. I have used every single one of the borough’s services, worked in multiple different sectors, and I believe I have a nuanced understanding to represent people effectively. I’d just say – test it.”

Hackney Council currently has a Labour mayor and 45 Labour councillors.

It also has six Conservative councillors, three Greens and three from the Hackney Independent Socialist Group.