Zoë Garbett has taken office as Hackney’s first Green party mayor after a historic local election victory that saw the party surge from four councillors to 40, while Labour’s block collapsed from 50 seats in 2022 to just nine. Garbett, 39, now leads one of England’s most diverse and deprived boroughs, with an annual budget of about £2bn.
Hackney is home to a population where around half of residents are from black and global majority groups, according to the council. Life expectancy is below the national average, and the borough ranks as the second-worst area in the country for child deprivation, despite pockets of wealth in gentrifying neighbourhoods. Garbett’s team is responsible for services including housing, adult social care, transport and tackling inequality.
A self-described “local government obsessive”, Garbett has worked for the NHS and local councils for over a decade, served as a London Assembly member for the Greens, and was a Hackney councillor for four years. She was also the Green candidate for London mayor in 2024. “I love local government,” she said. “It is the everyday that people experience, from adult social care and Send provision, to housing and roads.”
Garbett attributed the party’s success to years of grassroots activism, including backing local campaigns and joining picket lines. She also credited Green leader Zack Polanski, whose leadership has seen party membership triple to over 200,000. Polanski has faced scrutiny over issues including council tax payments, but Garbett said he “resonated so strongly with people who felt completely unheard”.
Looking ahead, Garbett emphasised the importance of delivering on policies that unite the Green coalition, such as rent controls, nationalising the water industry, protecting the NHS and pursuing climate justice. “Everything I do has climate at its centre,” she said. “We just have to go out and clearly and boldly make the case for them.”
