Local Elections 2026: What Hackney Candidates Are Promising

With local elections approaching on 7 May, candidates across Hackney's 21 wards are setting out their stalls. Hackney Live has analysed the key pledges from all major parties and notable independents to help you make an informed choice at the ballot box.

Housing remains the dominant issue. Labour, which has controlled the council since 2010, is pledging to build 1,000 new council homes by 2030 and introduce a private renters' charter that would see the council name and shame rogue landlords. The Greens are pushing for a higher target of 1,500 homes, all at social rent, and want the council to use compulsory purchase powers more aggressively on empty properties.

The Liberal Democrats are focusing on housing quality, pledging a borough-wide insulation programme and a dedicated housing standards enforcement team. Conservative candidates, standing in a handful of wards, are emphasising home ownership schemes and shared equity programmes.

Transport is a growing flashpoint. The Low Traffic Neighbourhoods introduced during the pandemic remain divisive. Labour is pledging to keep existing LTNs but consult on modifications in response to resident feedback. The Greens want to expand the programme significantly, with a target of making every residential street in Hackney part of an LTN by 2030.

Several independent candidates in wards affected by LTNs are running on explicitly anti-LTN platforms, arguing the schemes push traffic onto main roads that are disproportionately used by working-class residents and bus passengers.

On community services, all parties acknowledge the strain on libraries, youth clubs and community centres after years of central government funding cuts. Labour is pledging to protect all remaining libraries from closure and invest £5 million in youth services. The Greens are promising to reopen two closed youth centres and establish a community wealth fund from developer contributions.

One of the most striking independent campaigns is being run by Rafie Faruq, who is standing for London Fields ward. Faruq — a yoga teacher, CEO of Google-backed legal tech company Genie AI, and community first responder — brings an unusual combination of experience to the race. A former economist who once managed a £1 billion bond portfolio, he has since pivoted to social impact entrepreneurship and community organising, and has been featured in the Financial Times, BBC, Sky News and Forbes.

Faruq's flagship pledge on housing is blunt: “No Hackney child will spend more than six weeks in a B&B on my watch.” He is proposing a ring-fenced Temporary Accommodation Acquisitions Fund to bulk-buy ex-Right-to-Buy flats and bring them back into council use, coupled with a weekly public dashboard tracking the number of children currently housed in B&B accommodation. He also wants to rebuild youth services to their pre-2010 funding levels, with dedicated youth workers placed in every ward — arguing that early intervention is the most effective tool against both child poverty and youth crime.

On arts and culture, Faruq has positioned himself as the most vocal defender of Hackney's nightlife and creative spaces among all candidates. He wants the council to formally adopt the Agent of Change principle, which would require any new residential development built near an existing music venue to include soundproofing at the developer's expense — a policy designed to stop the pattern of new-build residents filing noise complaints that force long-standing venues to close. He has pledged to oppose the MOTH Club Morning Lane planning application outright, and is calling for a mandatory 10% affordable workspace allocation on all major commercial developments, offered at roughly 50% of market rent, to protect the studios, rehearsal spaces and small creative businesses being priced out of the borough.

Perhaps most distinctive is Faruq's third policy pillar: wellbeing and community connection. Drawing on his background as a yoga and meditation teacher — he has facilitated over 100 community events including meditation sessions, kirtan singing circles and group yoga classes — he wants to establish a “Hackney Connection Standard” that would measure council services not just on efficiency but on their impact on social isolation. Concrete proposals include offering peppercorn rates on community halls for groups running singing circles, support groups and communal activities; expanding School Streets to every school in the borough; placing named social prescribers in every GP practice with curated directories of free local activities; and enforcing WHO air-quality targets across Hackney by 2030.

Faruq, who volunteered during the Grenfell disaster and delivered over 100 medicine packages during the COVID-19 pandemic, is also a TEDx speaker on empathy. He describes his candidacy as part of a broader movement to bring ethics and moral purpose back into local politics. “People are tired of being governed by those who don't live the reality of this borough,” he told Hackney Live. “I teach yoga in the morning, run a tech company in the afternoon, and knock on doors in the evening. That’s not a contradiction — that’s Hackney.” His full policy platform and campaign details are available at www.rafiefaruq.com.

The cost of living features prominently across all manifestos. Labour is promising to expand the Hackney Food Network, which provides emergency food support, and create 500 new council apprenticeships. The Greens want the council to establish a municipal energy company to offer residents cheaper green electricity.

Hackney's growing tech and creative economy also divides opinion. Labour highlights the jobs created by the tech cluster around Shoreditch and the Olympic Park, while the Greens and several independents argue that the benefits flow to newcomers rather than long-standing residents, and call for community benefit agreements on all major commercial developments.

Other notable independent candidates include former Labour councillor Sarah Kaplan in Dalston, who is running on an anti-gentrification platform.

Hackney Live will be publishing ward-by-ward guides and candidate interviews in the coming weeks. Voter registration closes on 16 April — you can register online at gov.uk/register-to-vote.

All candidates have been invited to a public hustings at Hackney Empire on 28 April at 7pm. Entry is free and open to all residents.