St Ann’s councillor Tammy Hymas slammed the new Labour government as well as the Labour administration in Haringey as she quit the civic centre

Haringey Council and (inset) Tammy Hymas

A Labour councillor in Tottenham has quit Haringey Council while posting a series of criticisms of both the new government and the Labour administration locally.

Tammy Hymas, who was first elected to represent St Ann’s ward in 2022, posted a long statement on her social media explaining that the Labour government led by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was “failing us” and that the Labour administration in Haringey had become a “dented shield” in its response.

The now former councillor also said she had faced “regular abuse and threats” since becoming a councillor because she was a trans woman.

Hymas said: “St Ann’s is a wonderful place to live. I feel lucky to be part of this generous, loving and resilient community: the outpouring of mutual aid during the pandemic and beyond, our lively neighbourhood WhatsApp groups and forums, our tireless campaigners for social, economic and environmental justice, or the community groups and institutions that hold us together from The Salisbury to Chestnuts Community Centre.

“Throughout my time as your councillor, I have stood up against corporate interests extracting the wealth of our community – leading the campaign to strip a US health insurance firm of its contract at St Ann’s Road GP Surgery, demanding more social housing in new developments whilst cracking down on exploitative landlords, and ensuring our streets are for people, not just high polluting vehicles.

“However, the Labour government is failing us. Haringey Council is facing a £51million budget blackhole, because Keir Starmer’s government has refused to provide funding to cover the rising cost of social care, support for children with special educational needs and housing for those facing homelessness.

“This is a political decision: the government could increase taxes on a small handful of the wealthiest to fund council budgets for the majority of people in places like Haringey. Instead, they insist that councillors make deep cuts to services like libraries, local support workers or concessionary leisure access to avoid setting an illegal budget I refuse to accept this race to the bottom: more than ever local communities need long term investment to address the impact of 14 years of Conservative austerity, not more of the same old neglect and decline.

“At the same time, Haringey Council continues to punish those let down by these years of neglect through its use of bailiffs disproportionately targeting low income households. Equally, I am deeply concerned by the implementation of a public space protection order handing arbitrary powers over to the police to criminalise vulnerable people.

“Local councils must not be a dented shield to a Labour government concerned only with pandering to the interests of multimillionaires. They must be a champion of their people, fearlessly demanding political change nationally and internationally in the interests of diverse working class communities.

“In this vein, I remain proud of my work on the pensions committee securing a commitment for a responsible investment policy and I sincerely hope members will support an end to the council’s financial backing of the genocidal actions of the Israeli government.

“The people of St Ann’s deserve a choice: a council that speaks out against rising inequality and injustice, or one willing to go along with ever deeper government cuts to our community?

“Lastly, I want to thank everyone who has supported me these past three years – I have experienced regular abuse and threats as a trans woman in politics and have been forced to move three times in four years owing to the precarity of private renting. My friends and loved ones have been a source of constant encouragement and comradeship and they give me hope that a better world is possible.”

In response to Hymas’s resignation and the criticisms made against the council and government, a spokesperson for Haringey Labour said: “We’re disappointed to hear that Cllr Hymas is stepping down.

“Like many local councils, Haringey is in a difficult financial position. Fourteen years of austerity coupled with a huge increase in the cost of and demand for our services have forced us to make some tough decisions.

“We have recently had our application for exceptional financial support approved by government, which approved a capitalisation direction of £37m [£65m in total], and we will continue to look for savings efficiencies.

“In the upcoming budget, we are pleased to have protected the vast majority of frontline services while still delivering significant investment in our many local public services, including one of the largest house-building programmes in London and a £1.5m investment in seven parks across Tottenham, including Chestnuts Park in St Ann’s ward. This is despite the acute financial pressures we face as a local council of an outer London borough.

“The Labour government cannot be expected to undo 14 years of underfunding and mismanagement in seven months. We will continue to work with our Labour government on a fair funding model which reflects the needs of our communities.”

“We will continue to prioritise services which protect our most vulnerable residents to deliver a fairer, greener Haringey.

“We look forward to contesting the by-election on this basis.”

The by-election for St Ann’s ward will likely be scheduled for next month but a date has yet to be confirmed.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, or one-off donation.