Politics of Hackney - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

London Borough of Hackney

The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....

is a Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

governed inner

Inner London

Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. The area was first officially defined in 1965 and for purposes such as statistics, the definition has changed over time. The terms Inner London and Central...

London borough

The administrative area of Greater London contains thirty-two London boroughs. Inner London comprises twelve of these boroughs plus the City of London. Outer London comprises the twenty remaining boroughs of Greater London.-Functions:...

. The fifty-seven seats representing the nineteen wards of the Borough are divided between the Labour Party with fifty; the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

with four, and Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

three.

The Borough consists of two parliamentary constituencies: Hackney North and Stoke Newington (represented by Diane Abbott

Diane Abbott

Diane Julie Abbott is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons...

) and Hackney South and Shoreditch (represented by Meg Hillier

Meg Hillier

Margaret Olivia Hillier is a British Labour Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney South and Shoreditch since 2005, and was a junior Minister in HM Government from 2007 to 2010...

; both Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

). The Borough is a constituent part of the North East

North East (London Assembly constituency)

North East is a constituency of the London Assembly. It is represented by Jennette Arnold who was directly elected at the 2004 London Assembly election after previously being elected by the Labour Party list in the 2000 London Assembly election....

London Assembly

The London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...

seat with the London Borough of Islington

London Borough of Islington

The London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...

and London Borough of Waltham Forest

London Borough of Waltham Forest

The London Borough of Waltham Forest is in northeast London, England. Officially, it forms part of Outer London as it borders Essex. However, it can be seen that the NE London boundary does not extend far compared to elsewhere in the city...

currently held by Jennette Arnold

Jennette Arnold

Jennette Arnold is a Labour Party politician and member of the London Assembly representing the London Boroughs of Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest....

AM. The Borough also makes up a constituent part of the London constituency

London (European Parliament constituency)

London is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :The constituency corresponds to Greater London, in the south east of the United Kingdom....

of the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

Current structure

Unlike most other English local authorities, the Borough is now governed by a directly-elected Mayor

Elected mayors in the United Kingdom

Directly elected mayors are council leaders elected by the general electorate of a council area for local government, instead of being appointed by members of a local authority, which is common in the United Kingdom. The Elected Mayor is elected from a number of candidates who put themselves up for...

who is also the political leader of the council. The Mayor elected for a second term in office and representing the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

, is Jules Pipe

Jules Pipe

Julian Benjamin Pipe CBE is the first directly elected Mayor of the London Borough of Hackney since his election in October 2002.He worked as a journalist until taking on the full-time position as Mayor....

CBE

CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...

and is supported by a Cabinet, Councillors and a Speaker, currently for 2010-2011 Councillor Sally Mulready; who fulfils the civic and ceremonial duties previously undertaken by the (non-political) mayor.

The Borough is divided in to nineteen electoral wards, each returning three Councillors in a first three past the post system of elections. The Mayor of Hackney selects approximately nine Councillors to make up a Cabinet whom take responsibility of the governance of the Borough's civil service, and represent the Mayor and Council on strategic bodies such as Team Hackney, the Arms Length Management Organisation

Arms Length Management Organisation

Arms Length Management Organisations or arm's length management organisations are UK not-for-profit companies set up by a local authorities primarily to manage and improve all or part of their housing stock. Ownership of the housing stock itself normally stays with the local authority...

(ALMO) Hackney Homes which governs the Borough's estate, and the Learning Trust, governing the provision of education within the Borough.

The quasi-judicial functions of the Council called Regulatory, are carried out by exclusively back-bench

Backbencher

In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...

Councillors. The Planning Sub-Committee

Planning committee

A planning committee in the United Kingdom is a committee of local authority councillors that sit as the local planning authority to determine planning applications....

and the Licensing Committee

Licensing Act 2003

The Licensing Act of 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that applies only to England and Wales. The Act establishes a single integrated scheme for licensing premises which are used for the sale or supply of alcohol, to provide regulated entertainment, or to provide late night...

make independent decisions that oversee both the private and public sector and decide upon a wide range of petitions for permission to build, demolish or otherwise transform the built environment and upon requests for license for the public display of wild animals thru public entertainment to the transport of hazardous waste. The other committees that make up Regulatory are the Standards Committee, Regulatory Committee, Pensions Sub-Committee, and Audit Sub-Committee.

The Mayor, Cabinet, and Regulatory are all held to account by the system of Overview and Scrutiny

Overview and Scrutiny

Overview and Scrutiny is a function of local authorities in England and Wales. It was introduced by the Local Government Act 2000 which created separate Executive and Overview and Scrutiny functions within councils....

(O&S). This is formed into an Overview and Scrutiny Board, chaired normally by the leader of the opposition but currently by a Councillor nominated by the Conservative Party group, and the Scrutiny Commissions, the five sub-committees of the Board.

2010 elections

At the Hackney Council election

Hackney Council election, 2010

Elections for London Borough of Hackney Council were held on Thursday 6 May 2010. The whole council was up for election. Hackney is split up into 19 wards, each electing 3 councillors, so a total of 57 seats were up for election.-Summary results:...

on 6 May 2010

London local elections, 2010

Local government elections took place in London, and some other parts of the United Kingdom on Thursday 6 May 2010. Polling stations were open between 7am and 10pm....

the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

were returned with 50 councillors; winning six additional seats. The Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

forms the largest opposition party on the council with four councillors; and the Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats

have three.

2006 elections

On the 4 May 2006 Hackney Council local elections the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

were returned with forty-four Councillors, winning one seat and losing one. The Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

formed the largest opposition party in the Council with nine Councillors, the Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats

won three seats, and for only the second time a candidate from the Green Party was elected.

The Labour party majority increased in 2008, following the defection of the Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrats

representative of Cazenove ward

Cazenove (ward)

Cazenove is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and the area forms part of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency. Its named derives from the Cazenove Road which runs through the ward....

Councillor Joseph Stauber to thirty-three.

History

The borough was formed in 1965 from the area of the former metropolitan borough

Metropolitan borough

A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...

s of Hackney

Metropolitan Borough of Hackney

The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. Its area became part of the London Borough of Hackney.-Formation and boundaries:...

, Shoreditch

Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch

The Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington and the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney to form the London Borough of Hackney....

and Stoke Newington

Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington

The Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington was a metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965 when it became part of the London Borough of Hackney.-Predecessor authorities:...

.

For most of that time it has been a Labour run authority, although there was a period of Conservative administration from 1968 to 1972

There was a period of changing coalitions during the 1990s. These coalitions followed the upheaval following the Mark Trotter affair, involving allegations of a cover up over a child abuse scandal when the Labour Party split between Councillors following the former mayor Nick Tallentire (which called themselves "The Hackney New Labour Group") and councillors following the former council leader John McCafferty, who eventually got the backing of the national Labour party. There was a brief period when John McCafferty led a minority administration followed by a loose coalition of Hackney New Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. By the 1998 election all but two of the Hackney New Labour councillors defected to either the Liberal Democrats or the Conservatives and a coalition was launched after the council between the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives and two Green Party councillors. After this there was a coalition between Labour led by Jules Pipe

Jules Pipe

and the Conservatives led by Eric Ollerenshaw

Eric Ollerenshaw

Eric Ollerenshaw OBE is a British Conservative politician and the Member of Parliament for Lancaster and Fleetwood....

. After the 2002 borough elections the Labour returned as the majority party.

Borough Wards

The nineteen wards in that make up the Borough are mostly made up of four polling districts, the exception being Dalston ward with five. Most are named after geographical locations or features with the exceptions of Chatham and Stoke Newington Central centred on Stoke Newington High Street, part of the Roman Ermine Street

Ermine Street

Ermine Street is the name of a major Roman road in England that ran from London to Lincoln and York . The Old English name was 'Earninga Straete' , named after a tribe called the Earningas, who inhabited a district later known as Armingford Hundred, around Arrington, Cambridgeshire and Royston,...

, the Central part both separating the surrounding parts of Stoke Newington that are parts of neighbouring wards and also apeing Hackney Central. The only ward named after street is Clissold for Clissold Crescent and not Clissold Park

Clissold Park

Clissold Park is a community park in Stoke Newington within the London Borough of Hackney. Facilities include a children's playground, sports fields, a bowling green, tennis courts, a cafe and some animal attractions including terrapins in its lakes...

located in neighbouring Lordship ward. Most are named for the hamlets originally found there, Haggerston, Hoxton, and Wick, country estates between the hamlets, Brownswood after Brownswood Park and Lordship after Lordship Park, or the planned developments themselves, Cazenove, De Beauvoir, and Kings Park. Three are named after parks, Hackney Downs

Hackney Downs

Hackney Downs is an open space and a broader area in Lower Clapton, in the London Borough of Hackney; it is also the name of a local council ward. It borders on Stoke Newington to the west and Shacklewell to the south...

, Springfield Park, Hackney, and Victoria Park, East London

Victoria Park, East London

Victoria Park is 86.18 hectares of open space that stretches out across part of the East End of London, England bordering parts of Bethnal Green, Hackney, and Bow, such as along Old Ford Road, London E3 and Victoria Park Road E9. The park is entirely within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets...

although after a boundary change there no longer is any part of Victoria Park within the Borough. Two are named after bridges the first of the River Lea and the other Queensbridge after a bridge over the Regents Canal. Finally two are named after the two railway stations Hackney Central railway station

Hackney Central railway station

Hackney Central railway station is a railway station on the North London Line in an area of the London Borough of Hackney known as Hackney Central in east London. It is between and , in Travelcard Zone 2. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Overground.The station is a...

and Dalston Junction.

Brownswood
Brownswood (ward)
Brownswood is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and forms part of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency.The ward returns three councillors to the Borough Council holding an election every four years. At the previous election on 6 May 2010 Brian Bell, Feryat Demirci, and Oli de...
Cazenove
Cazenove (ward)
Cazenove is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and the area forms part of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency. Its named derives from the Cazenove Road which runs through the ward....
Chatham
Chatham (ward)
Chatham is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency.The ward returns three councillors to Borough Council, with an election every four years. At the last local election on 6 May 2010, Luke Akehurst, Sally Mulready, and Guy Nicholson,...
Clissold
Clissold (ward)
Clissold is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney. The name is derived from Clissold Crescent and the ward also borders Clissold Park in the neighbouring Lordship ward both of which form part of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency....
Dalston
De Beauvoir
De Beauvoir (ward)
De Beauvoir is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency.The ward returns three councillors to Borough Council, with an election every four years. At the last election on 6 May 2010, Rob Chapman, Gulay Icoz, and Tom Ebbutt, all Labour...
Hackney Central
Hackney Central (ward)
Hackney Central is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency.The ward returns three councillors to Borough Council, with an election every four years. At the previous election on 6 May 2010 Alan Laing, Samantha Lloyd, and Vincent Stops...
Hackney Downs
Hackney Downs (ward)
Hackney Downs is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney, corresponding roughly to the Hackney Downs area of London, UK and forms part of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency....
Haggerston
Haggerston (ward)
Hagerston is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency.The ward returns three councillors to Borough Council, with an election every four years. At the previous election on 6 May 2010 Ann Munn, Jonathan McShane, and Barry Buitekant all...
Hoxton
Hoxton (ward)
Hoxton is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency.The ward stretches from Hoxton Street and Hoxton Square in the East to Old Street and City Road in the South and West and Shoreditch Park and the Regents Canal in the North.The ward...
Kings Park
Kings Park (ward)
Kings Park is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency.The ward returns three councillors to Borough Council, with an election every four years. At the previous election on 6 May 2010 Julius Asabgwiy Nkafu, Sharon Patrick, and Saleem...
Leabridge Park
Lordship
Lordship (ward)
Lordship is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and area forms part of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency.The ward returns three councillors to Hackney London Borough Council, with elections every four years. At the previous election on 6 May 2010 Bernard Aussenberg , and Labour...
New River
New River (ward)
New River is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and forms part of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency. Consisting of an area of Stamford Hill the ward also incorporates the large council estate Woodberry Down currently under redevelopment....
Queensbridge
Queensbridge (ward)
Queensbridge is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency.The ward returns three councillors to Borough Council, with an election every four years. At the last election on 6 May 2010, Emma Plouviez, Tom Price, and Patrick Vernon, all...
Springfield
Stoke Newington Central
Stoke Newington Central (ward)
Stoke Newington Central is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney. It corresponds roughly to Stoke Newington in London, UK and forms part of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency of Diane Abbott MP....
Victoria
Wick
Wick (ward)
Wick is a ward in the London Borough of Hackney that forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency. It fully covers the area of Hackney Wick and includes the part of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics being built in the Borough....

External links

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