Labour has retained its full house of three councillors representing Islington Council’s Hillrise ward after winning a by-election held there yesterday.
Shreya Nanda (pictured), an economist and a senior fellow at the Social Market Foundation, defeated challenges from Alison Stoecker, a Jeremy Corbyn-backed Independent who finished second, and the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.
Labour’s victory comes six weeks after the general election, in which Corbyn, a former Labour party leader running as an Independent, retained the Islington North parliamentary seat, which contains the Hillrise ward.
Stoecker, an international conference organiser for Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project who previously worked for Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell, enjoyed the personal backing of Corbyn throughout a campaign in which a foreign policy issue, the war in Gaza, featured strongly.
She received 539 votes, just over half of Nanda’s 968. Lib Dem Imogen Wall was third with 350 votes and Alex Nettle of the Greens was fourth with 322. A fifth candidate, Maxim Parr-Reid, another Independent, received 54 votes.
The by-election followed the resignation of previous Hillrise Labour councillor Ollie Steadman, who had only won the seat in May. The outcome represents a 19 per cent fall in Labour’s vote share from the 63 per cent achieved by Steadman and big fall in the number of votes from 2,824.
However, only three candidates (including Nettle) contested the previous contest and turnout was much lower at 20.5 per cent compared with 47.5 per cent, probably due in part to the recent glut of elections inducing voter fatigue and people being on holiday.
The result means there has been no further reduction of Labour’s dominance of the council chamber since June, when four members of its group resigned to campaign for Corbyn in the general election. They now sit as Independent councillors. The Green Party has three Islington councillors and Labour has 44.
OnLondon.co.uk provides unique coverage of the capital’s politics, development and culture. Support it for just £5 a month or £50 a year and get things for your money too. Details HERE. Threads. X/Twitter: On London and Dave Hill. Photo of Shreya Nanda from Islington Council.