Residents across Hackney are voting in two elections on Thursday to determine both their local councillors and the borough's next directly-elected Mayor.
The political landscape in Hackney has long been dominated by Labour, which has held control of the council for all but four years over the past five decades. This contest is widely seen as a two-horse race between the governing party and an ambitious Green Party campaign, which hopes to challenge Labour's established stronghold.
However, the battle for the town hall is not limited to two, with seven parties actively vying for control of the council.
As locals weigh up their options, each party has published a manifesto detailing the policies it would pursue if elected. Here, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) compiles the core pledges of each political group.
Conservative Party
The Tory mayoral candidate Tareke Gregg has made several key promises he will introduce if elected to lead the borough, which can be read on the Conservatives’ website.
Housing
- Review the social housing allocation system
- Push developers to deliver 50-60% “genuinely affordable” homes in the borough
Communities
- Reallocate funds used for LTN expansion to youth services, community safety and essential services
- Collaborate with local organisations to enhance the delivery of community-based programmes and services
Children & education
- Prioritising council funding towards youth clubs and organisations like the Hackney Play Association
Health
- Improving coordination across services by strengthening communication between education, health, and social care, ensuring individuals and families receive joined-up, consistent, and seamless support
Environment & transport
- Remove Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs)
- Work with transport planners to redesign roads to improve traffic flow, cut congestion and restore accessibility
Green Party
Hackney’s Green Party manifesto is available to read in full on its website. Here are some of the core pledges:
Housing
- Prioritise building new council homes through council-owned land
- Push for Hackney Council pension funds to be used to buy back ex-council properties
- Increase the number of family-sized (3+ beds) and fully accessible council housing
Communities
- Support the establishment of resident-led food co-operatives on every major Hackney estate by 2030, bringing down the cost of food through bulk-buying
- Launch a night market by 2030
- Commission a public, borough-wide investigation to find out who owns the borough’s land and buildings
Crime
- Work with the Metropolitan Police to pause the use of Live Facial Recognition technology
- Adopt a holistic approach to safety and crime-reduction that acknowledges structural inequality as a major driver of crime
- Prioritise funding for prevention and early intervention
Children & education
- Expand apprenticeships and practical training routes so that more young people can find meaningful employment in Hackney’s local economy
- Connect schools with local food growing and nature access initiatives
- Support schools and youth clubs to create spaces where younger generations can explore important causes of social justice and gain political education
Health
- Lobby the government to allow local areas to set up overdose prevention sites
- Expand the approach to adult social care to encompass a broader range of community partners and non-profits
- Work with the local NHS trust to support and extend social prescribing capacity and ensure joined up working across services to counter loneliness and isolation
Environment & transport
- Improve pedestrian safety by installing safe crossings
- Introduce new car parking permit structures to reflect vehicle size, weight and emissions
- Prioritise protected and fully accessible cycle lanes and networks of low traffic streets
Hackney Independent Socialist Collective
The Hackney Independent Socialist Collective (HISC) is standing in select wards as part of a tactical voting pact with the Green Party. The group is supporting the Greens’ Mayoral candidate, and their full manifesto (available to read on their website) explains how they would run the council in partnership with the Greens if they defeat Labour.
Here are some of the party’s key commitments:
Housing
- Fight for rent caps in private rented housing
- Ensure every council tenant has a named housing officer
- Grow the council’s in-house team of skilled workers for housing repairs and review external contractor list
Communities
- Hold a referendum on whether to get rid of Hackney’s directly-elected Mayor
- Prioritise community hubs to offer training, exercise and creative activities for residents, cafes and lunch clubs
- Support Palestinian rights and divest directly invested funds from Israeli arms companies and firms linked to war crimes and human rights violations
Children & education
- Urgently review cuts to youth services
- Develop a new system to monitor schools and support those prioritising wellbeing and inclusion over punishment and exclusion
Health
- Set up dementia clinics in our community hubs where carers will receive the support of trained volunteers
- Call for an urgent review of local Talking Therapies contracts to improve mental health support
Environment & transport
- Roll back Chatsworth Road closures
- Pause plans for new LTNs and support community-led reviews of schemes
- Campaign for free public transport in London
Labour Party
Labour is fighting to keep control of the council it has run continuously since 2006. The party’s full manifesto can be viewed on Hackney Labour’s website.
Below are some key promises Labour is making should it remain in charge of the borough come May 8.
Housing
- Cut council tax for low-income residents
- Replace council homes lost to right to buy
- Introduce a new generation of rent-controlled homes to support key workers
Communities
- Celebrate art, culture and communities in every ward in the borough
- Work with carnival groups to help them establish a Hackney Carnival Trust to support a carnival parade
- Extend community grants programmes
Crime
- Cut mobile phone theft by half by 2030
- Improve the borough’s reporting system and data-sharing to improve data on antisocial behaviour hotspots
- Create a new strategy to end sexual exploitation in the borough
Children & education
- Create two new special schools for children with SEND
- Launch an alternative learning service (HEALS) to remove barriers to inclusive education
- Review the borough’s offer for all children with learning needs such as dyslexia
Health
- Deliver a measurable mental health service for young people
- Intensify action to curb smoking and create more smoke-free environments in the borough
- Reduce care act assessment waiting times to fulfil adult social care commitments
Environment & transport
- Continue working with health partners, youth and voluntary and community organisation to develop network of activities in parks and green spaces
- Install 3,000 EV charging points across the borough
- Increase enforcement of transport controls around school streets
Liberal Democrats
The Lib Dem candidate for Mayor, Eva Steinhardt, is campaigning on issues such as care, policing and housing affordability ahead of the vote on May 7, which can be read in full on the party’s website. Here’s a sample of the party’s promises:
Housing
- Get more homes on the market to cut rent
- Capping high leasehold charges
Crime
- Protect local police for safer communities
- Take action on bike theft
Health
- Improve care services so everyone gets support locally
Environment & transport
- Use parking and traffic fine money to repair local roads and pavements
- Defend Hackney parks from building and support nature and wellbeing
Reform UK
Reform is standing in every electoral ward in Hackney and mayoral candidate Vahid Almasi’s policies can be found on his campaign website.
Housing
- Audit all unused council land, garages, rooftops and brownfield sites within six months to find space for housing
- Guarantee priority access to social housing for veterans and key frontline workers
- Unlock co-living spaces to increase affordable rental supply
Communities
- End Hackney’s ‘Borough of Sanctuary’ status
- Review funding for voluntary organisations
Crime
- Targeted crackdown on crime hotspots
- Put more police officers on the streets
- Identify, monitor and rapidly shut down drug dens and drug-related properties across Hackney
Children & education
- Repurpose unused public spaces into innovation hubs with 3D printing and free AI learning to support a ‘future-ready’ youth
Environment & transport
- Review all LTNs with a view to review or redesign failing schemes
- Protect high streets and main roads from displaced traffic
- Introduce permits for tradespeople and carers driving through LTNs by using camera-based timed access
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is standing candidates in three electoral wards: Hackney Central, Hoxton East and Shoreditch, and Lea Bridge.
The group has made six ‘guarantees’ about what its councillors would do if elected. Here is a summary of the core pledges TUSC is campaigning on:
- Start a mass programme of council home improvement and construction to create employment
- Drive out private developers and make new housing projects 100% council homes
- Restore the council jobs lost to 16 years of austerity cuts across all services
- Use landlord licensing to implement caps on private rent
- Reopen and expand closed youth clubs and reduce school class sizes to defend every job and improve education
- Oppose all cuts and closures to council services, jobs, pay and conditions and resist the privatisation of services or their transfer to social enterprises or ‘arms-length’ management organisations
- Reject council tax, rent and service charge increases for working-class people
- Refuse to co-operate with any commissioners or ‘envoys’ appointed by the government to attempt to impose cuts on local services
