The one-party state is no more. In a dramatic day of nail-bitingly close contests, Labour have confidently retained control of the Town Hall, but will have to stave off a strong Green opposition. 

The final results in today’s local elections stand at Labour 32, and the Greens 19. But despite firmly retaining their majority, there were many tears shed amongst Labour colleagues who again and again had to watch their candidates be defeated by an unprecedented Green surge. 

Green Leader Benali Hamdache was delighted, and long-serving Highbury councillor Caroline Russell could not quite contain her joy. They were both bouncing around the Islington Tennis Centre in Market Road. They had previously said getting 20 councillors or more would be an “astounding” result. 

“This was right by our upper estimates”, said Cllr Hamdache, “And to have been so close in a number of places that we didn’t even campaign in says something. We did no work in Finsbury Park, we did no work in Laycock and were 12 votes away, the reality is the Green message has cut through really clearly”. 

The Greens won two seats in Finsbury Park, which came as a shock to what were meant to be paper candidates. Indeed, an emotional Syreen Hassan was having to be reassured by colleagues that things would all be okay, and that they would be there for during her unexpected time as a councillor. 

The surge of the Islington party also meant that some of the most prominent Labour faces were defeated. Council Leader Una O’Halloran has lost finance chief Flora Williamson, housing supremo John Woolf, Deputy Leader Santiago Bell Bradford and community safety lead Angelo Weekes from her top team.

She told the Tribune of their victory: “I think it’s a brilliant result. People win and lose. People who have lost, I’m sad for them. But you go into politics knowing you could lose.” 

There was anger as well as upset amongst Labour councillors throughout the day. Many told the Tribune that the loss should be a “wake up call” for the government, which should take the Green surge as a signal that they need to move towards a more progressive form of politics, and “back to our roots”. 

Meanwhile, the Lib Dems failed to secure their target seat of St Mary’s and St James’. A rather dour-faced leader Terry Stacy did not wish to reflect on that failure, but instead proclaimed: “It’s not north Korea anymore!”. 

The Islington Community Independents also underperformed, each only garnering a couple of hundred votes. They blamed the Greens for this, saying that they should have committed to a non-compete agreement. 

You can read results and reaction from throughout the day here, and remember to pick up a copy of your Tribune on Friday for the full story.