Una O’Halloran, the new leader of Islington Council leader, with by-election winner James Potts and her deputy leader Santiago Bell-Bradford

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THE new council leader was seen grinning as the Labour candidate achieved victory last night (Thursday), winning the Junction ward by-election by more than 200 votes. 

James Potts had been campaigning over the past month in a bid to replace former Leader Kaya Comer-Schwartz after she stepped down to take a job with Mayor Sadiq Khan.

As the results were announced in the Town Hall, Cllr Una O’Halloran told the Tribune that she was “so excited” that Mr Potts had won and said the result was “a great sign for Labour”.

She added: “Labour are on your side, people are putting trust in us, and I still hope people put trust in us in 2026. He’s a great candidate, he worked really hard, it was a great campaign”.

Mr Potts said he was “thrilled” with his victory.

“It’s a really great result, a pretty sound, solid victory for Labour, and I’m really happy with how it’s gone”, he said.

The newly-elected councillor added that he will focus on concerns that were presented by residents on the doorstep — crime and anti-social behaviour, and housing.

He further told the Tribune that he was “no longer” in favour of the proposals for the highly-controversial Archway Tower.

Mr Potts said: “It doesn’t work for the area, we need to get the community together and the developer, and built a scheme that is right for the community. No, I don’t support the scheme in its current form”.

Mr Potts noted that the on-the-ground effort was instrumental in his victory.

He said: “Going out and actually speaking to voters, engaging with them and understanding the issues that matter to them, understanding their concerns and promising to listen to them and actually then action them now I’ve been elected is a really big part of it. Going out and speaking to voters is exactly what the Labour party is about and it’s what we do best.”

Jackson Caines, the Jeremy Corbyn-backed independent candidate, came second in the race for the seat but said he was “really happy” with the result.

He added: “I know some people will be disappointed that we didn’t win, but I think it’s really promising that from a standing start, just in the space of a few weeks, we mounted a really credible challenge to Islington Labour. I think it shows that Labour’s dominance in Islington is not a force of nature. It really can change and I think it shows that Labour are in trouble.”

To the prospect of running again in 2026, Mr Caines said: “Hell yeah — bring it on”.

But Cllr O’Halloran said independents were ‘no threat’ to the Labour party.

“I don’t think they’re a threat, I really don’t because I don’t know what the independents stand for,” she said. “I’ll be honest, if the independent guy had won, he would have been the first independent to me, because the others are all Labour people. I didn’t really know what he stood for, he seemed a nice guy.”

RESULT

JAMES POTTS (Labour) 785 ELECTED

Jackson Caines (Independent) 550

Devon Osborne (Green Party) 219

Rebecca Jones (Liberal Democrats) 156

John Wilkin (Conservatives) 113

Brian Potter (Independent) 97

Bill Martin (The Socialist Party of Great Britain) 22

Turnout: 21.33 per cent