Second by-election announced for Haringey as winning Labour candidate steps down

News that Labour’s Hasret Bozdogan will not be taking up her council seat comes shortly after a winning Green candidate was found to be ineligible, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Haringey Council will need to have another by-election after Labour announced one of their winning candidates will not be taking her seat as a councillor.

Hasret Bozdogan, who was elected to represent the party in Woodside ward, will not be taking on her role as councillor for “personal reasons” according to a statement released by Haringey Labour today (Wednesday 20th).

It is the second by-election announced in less than two weeks since the local elections held on Thursday, 7th May.

Last Wednesday (13th), Haringey Greens announced a by-election would have to take place in Northumberland Park ward after their successful candidate, Jayon Henriques, was found to be ineligible to take his seat.

The Greens said they did not know Henriques would be disqualified until after the deadline for nominations closed last month and, subsequently, did not campaign in his ward.

Labour, on the other hand, say Bozdogan will not take her post due to personal reasons “that transpired after 7th May”.

The spokesperson added: “”All of us at Haringey Labour are deeply saddened by this. Hasret would have been a fantastic representative of Woodside and the Kurdish and Alevi community in Haringey.

“A by-election will be announced soon. We look forward to contesting this seat with a new candidate.”

The news is likely to be welcomed by the Greens, who were extremely close to having a councillor elected for Woodside earlier this month. Their candidate Hayley Nicola Jukes lost to Bozdogan by just three votes.

It could also create more uncertainty about who will be running the council. Before the announcement, Labour were set to have 21 seats. Combined with the Lib Dems, who have eight councillors, they had the exact number of seats needed to form a majority coalition, which is 29. With Labour now down to 20, this is no longer possible.

At the same time, it leaves the Green group in pole position to form the next administration. Although they have 27 councillors, two short of a majority, the news from Labour could effectively torpedo the chances of a Labour-Lib Dem coalition – the group’s biggest threat to forming an administration.

No date for the Woodside by-election have been announced. Haringey Council is also still yet to confirm a date for the Northumberland Park by-election.

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