Green by-elections may cost up to 250,000

Nine by-elections are planned for this summer to fill London local council seats vacated after earlier elections. Eight of the vacated seats were won by Green Party candidates, and one was won by Labour. Some candidates were barred by election rules, including teachers who were ineligible to take up seats. Elected mayors also had to stand down from council roles because holding two posts at once is not permitted. A by-election is expected to follow when a candidate wins an elected mayoralty and a council seat. The estimated cost is about £250,000. Green Party eligibility issues include a candidate disqualified after nominations closed, and a winner previously suspended over alleged antisemitic social media posts.

"Nine by-elections are to be held this summer to replace candidates voted into office at the London local elections earlier this month, some of whom were found to be ineligible to take up their posts. Of those, eight were from the Green Party, which has been criticised by opposition parties for poor vetting procedures. The ninth was won by Labour. Reasons include candidates who were teachers not being allowed to take up their seats due to election rules and elected mayors standing down from their council seats as they are not permitted to hold two posts at once. The estimated bill is likely to be about 250,000."

"The two new Green Party elected mayors, Zoe Garbett in Hackney and Liam Shrivastava in Lewisham, where the Greens took control of former Labour-run boroughs, had to vacate the council seats they also won - as they are not allowed to hold both roles. It is usual in cases where a candidate wins an elected mayoralty and a council seat for a by-election to be held afterwards for the council seat."

"Two of the Green candidates who had to quit - James Tilden in Hackney Central ward and Muhammad Naser in Camden's Regent's Park ward - are teachers and therefore ineligible. Joanna Eaves in Lambeth's Clapham Park ward and Simon Anthony, in Ealing's Acton North ward, are understood to have quit after the election due to ill health. In Haringey the Green Party said it had known prior to the election that its candidate, Jayon Henriques, was not eligible stand in Northumberland Park ward, but said it was only made aware of the disqualification after the deadline for nominations had closed."

"One of the candidates who went on to win in Streatham St Leonard's ward in Lambeth, Saiqa Ali, had been suspended by the Green Party prior to the election over alleged antisemitic social media posts. She told the BBC earlier this month she rejected all forms of discrimination and racism. Lambeth Council's website shows that she has not taken up her seat, which is current"

Read at www.bbc.com