Islington Council Greens secure Highbury and at least 15 seats

Greens held Highbury on islington council and will have at least 15 councillors in the Town Hall. Caroline Russell said she was "so, so happy" after the ward stayed Green, while the result also extended the party’s presence well beyond the seat she first won more than a decade ago.

Highbury returned three Green councillors, with Benali Hamdache keeping his seat and two newcomers joining him. Russell, who served in Highbury for 12 years and is standing down, said, "not only is it the three in Highbury, they’ve now got colleagues all over the council, which will make such a difference. I was on my own for 8 years and it was really tough. We can’t wait to see how amazing the new team do!"

Canonbury and Tufnell Park

The gains were built ward by ward before Highbury was called at 5:24pm. At 4:40pm, Canonbury went Green with one councillor, and John Woolf lost his seat. At 4:48pm, Sheridan Kates, Sophia Anderson and Devon Osborne won seats for the Greens in Tufnell Park, with each Green candidate taking well over 2,000 votes.

That left the party on 12 seats at 5:02pm before Highbury pushed it to at least 15. Russell’s remark at the tennis centre pointed to the contrast between the ward where she spent 12 years and the wider Town Hall group now arriving alongside her.

Labour in Laycock and Caledonian

Labour held all three seats in Laycock at 4:58pm, Barnsbury at 5:04pm and all three seats in Caledonian at 5:15pm. In Laycock, independent candidate Ilkay Cinko-Omer won just over 400 votes, while Joy Patricia Hinson missed out by 12 votes and said, "we hardly even campaigned in this ward and we only missed it by 12 votes. It shows people are fed up of labour and putting their faith in the greens."

The result gives the Greens a larger base inside Islington Town Hall and ends the night with a council group that is no longer centered on one ward. For residents, the practical change is simple: Highbury stays Green, and the party now has enough councillors to carry its presence across multiple wards and committee seats.