Hackney Greens court local Charedi community ahead of elections promising planning policy change

Senior Hackney Green Party officials have held a series of meetings with representatives of the Strictly Orthodox community in the borough for discussions dominated by policy on planning rules ahead of the local elections in May.

In a statement, Hackney Greens told Jewish News they were “honoured to be invited” to speak with members of the Charedi Jewish community for “conversations on a broad number of topics” that the party say are “helping to inform our manifesto for the local election campaign.”

Other sources claim the community is being openly courted by London Assembly member Zoe Garbett, who is in the running to become Hackney Mayor if the Greens perform to some expectations in May.

One local Charedi source told Jewish News they believed there was a campaign organised by local Charedi voters “to get the Green mayoral candidate elected as revenge – revenge for the planning issues.”

But the same source warned that other members of the Strictly Orthodox community in the borough were “flocking to Reform UK, who are promising to stop all the woke education nonsense.”

The 30,000-strong Charedi community in the borough is known to have become increasingly frustrated with the current Labour-run council, who have repeatedly stalled over adopting planning rules that led overcrowded families to build extensions upwards in their homes, which particularly suits the needs of those with larger families.

The rules have already been adopted to great success in neighbouring Haringey, where the Charedi community have welcomed the opportunity to add up to three more rooms to their homes.

Jewish News has spoken with members of Hackney’s Charedi community who say they are open to speaking with any political party who says it is willing to listen to their needs and demands.

One senior figure said they “did not care” about the Zack Polanski led party’s openly anti-Israel stance, and pointed out they were “voting in the local elections not on foreign policy but on local matters that affect the community here.”

Another Stamford Hill-based Charedi figure said he believed “there is a real chance that our local council mayor Caroline Woodley will be out-voted by a tactical campaign organised by Jewish voters to get the Green mayoral candidate elected as revenge – revenge for the planning issues.”

Hackney Greens have been one of the most outspoken anti-Israel campaigners, regularly seeking to gain support on the ground that they oppose the alleged “genocide” in Gaza, and calling for a boycott of Israeli goods.

The local Greens also recently led calls for Hackney Council to end a twinning arrangement with the Israeli city of Haifa.

A organisation called Hackney Votes Palestine 2026 is backing every Green candidate standing in the May local elections, with the aim of turning the council into an anti-Israel hotbed.

A statement by the gropup said it is “supporting an electoral coalition of Green Party and Independent Socialists, who together will be standing against Labour in every ward in Hackney.”

Meanwhile, the Conservative Group in Hackney are also facing their own challenge from the local Reform UK Group.

Jewish News understands that senior rabbis from the local Satmar community have been speaking to Reform over “education matters.”

One local source told Jewish News: “Reform are promising to stop all the woke nonsense education, which for the Charedi community is more important than most other issues.

“The issue is R&S education and other new modern woke policies, which are not compatible with Charedi life.

“The community are looking at Labour’s Children’s Wellbeing Bill and other issues causing Charedi schools huge problems, including with VAT.

“These are the issues why some of the community is flocking to Reform.”

Hackney Labour currently holds a massive majority on the council, where it has 45 seats, with the Conservatives holding six, and the Greens and Independents currently having just three each.

But there has been a clear surge in support for the Greens in the borough in recent years. At the 2022 elections, the Green vote surged in areas like Stoke Newington, Dalston and Hackney Wick, and the party went on to swipe the Stoke Newington ward seat from Labour in a 2024 by-election.

The last General Election also saw the Greens increase their vote share significantly in Hackney South and Shoreditch, where their candidate came close to 10,000 votes.

While they are certain to make significant gains, Labour is likely to retain most seats on the council. But the borough is one of five London authorities which elect a Mayor as the executive leader, as well as separate ward councillors.

Labour has won the mayoralty ever since Hackney switched to this system in 2002, but it is here where the Greens fancy their chances of success in May.

Incumbent Mayor Woodley was first elected in 2023 in a mayoral by-election, after her predecessor Philip Glanville resigned over his links to a disgraced Labour councillor.

She is being challenged for a second time for the top job by Garbett, who co-leads the small Green opposition on Hackney Council.

Last year, a damning investigation by the social housing watchdog judged Hackney to be an “outlier” compared to other councils in terms of the scale of its housing failures.

Ombudsman Richard Blakeway said the local authority’s positive mindset had led to “multiple missed opportunities” to tackle fundamental problems.

Mayor Woodley has blamed the state of the housing stock and the levels of disrepair on “prolonged” austerity measures, estimated to have cost Hackney over £150m in funding since 2010.

Asked about talks with the Charedi community in Hackney, a local Greens spokesperson told Jewish News: “The Hackney Greens were honoured to be invited to speak with members of the Charedi Jewish community who are doing excellent work to improve the lives of local people.

“Our conversations so far have touched on a broad number of topics and are helping to inform our manifesto for the local election campaign, which we aim to launch publicly in April.

“The Green Party is committed to represent everyone in Hackney, and we’re keen to hear from this valued community who help make Hackney the wonderful borough that it is.”