Successful Green candidate ineligible to become Haringey councillor

It means an immediate by-election will need to take place in Northumberland Park ward and comes as negotiations over the next council administration continue, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Haringey Greens pictured at the election count (credit Joe Ives/LDRS)

Haringey Greens have admitted they knew that one of their candidates would be unable to take their place on the council before last week’s local election took place.

Green candidate Jayon Henriques was elected to represent Northumberland Park ward last week – but it has since been revealed he is ineligible to be a councillor.

In a statement released on the Haringey Greens website today (Wednesday, 13th), the party explained they were only made aware that Henriques would be disqualified from taking his seat after the deadline for nominations passed last month.

In the statement Haringey Greens said: “As soon as we were made aware we informed the Electoral Commission and Haringey Council returning officer, and followed their instructions. No local campaigning took place in the ward.”

They added: “We accept the candidate made an error in good faith regarding his eligibility. A by-election will be announced in due course and we look forward to campaigning with a new candidate.”

Henriques won 1,135 votes, ousting sitting Labour member and cabinet member for communities Ajda Ovat from her post. Ovat, herself, was not far behind the Green candidate, receiving 1,022 votes. Labour’s Amin Kaushika and John Bevan were re-elected to represent Northumberland Park in the ward’s two other seats.

The reason why Henriques has been disqualified from taking his seat has not been made public. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has approached Haringey Green Party and Haringey Council for clarification on the situation.

Under Section 80 of the Local Government Act 1972 a person is disqualified from standing as a candidate or becoming a councillor if they are any of the following:

In the paid employment of the local authority;
Employed by a company which is under the control of the local authority
subject to bankruptcy orders;
Have, within five years before being elected, or at any time since being elected, been convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment (suspended or not) for at least three months without the option of a fine;
Disqualified under Part 3 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 for corrupt or illegal practices;
A teacher in a school maintained by the local authority.

The Local Government (Disqualification) Act 2022 inserted a new section, 81A, into the 1972 Act, which disqualifies a person from being elected to or being a member of a local authority if they are subject to a sexual offences order or notification. The LDRS understands this is not the reason why Henriques has been disqualified.

Henriques is not the first successful Green nominee in London to be unable to take their post. Yesterday (Tuesday 12th) it was revealed that a Green candidate for Hackney Council would not be able to take his seat because of rule breaches.

Candidate James Tilden was elected to the Hackney Central ward with 1,681 votes but, as a teacher in one of the borough’s community schools, is legally an employee of Hackney Council , thus disqualifying him from becoming a councillor on the local authority. As in Haringey, a by-election will need to take place to elect an eligible replacement.

The disqualification in Haringey takes the number of Green Party councillors at the local authority down to 27 – two short of a majority. It is still a historic success for the party that saw the Labour group lose control of the local authority for the first time in more than 55 years, retaining just 21 of the 44 seats it held going into the election. The Liberal Democrats have eight seats, one more than they achieved in the 2022 election.

With no party having a majority the nature of the next administration remains unclear.

What has become slightly clearer, however, is who will lead Haringey Greens on the council. Following a members’ meeting on Tuesday (12th), Mark Blake was elected as ‘convenor’ of the Green group, with Ruairidh Paton (St Ann’s ward) and Tammy Hymas (Woodside ward) set to be ‘deputy convenors’.

Cllr Hymas previously served as a Labour councillor for St Ann’s until resigining from her post in February 2025 due to disagreement with the direction of national Labour Party and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. She accused the government of being in a “race to the bottom” in its refusual to provide extra funding needed for essential council services.

The LDRS understands that the elected Green councillors are still discussing how the next administration will shape up with no final decision made at the time of reporting.

As it stands, the eight seats held by the Liberal Democrats would be enough to form a majority coalition. Nevertheless, it remains unclear if Haringey Greens are – or have been – in discussion with either Liberal Democrat or Labour councillors.

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