Vahid Almasi also accused the Labour-run council of taking the East London borough to the “brink of financial ruin”
A Hackney mayoral candidate claims the Green Party poses an “existential threat” to the borough as he promised to reduce the council’s debt if he wins the upcoming local election.
Reform UK’s Vahid Almasi accused the Labour Party of bringing the council to the “brink of financial ruin” after increasing its debt pile to £300m, but also claimed the Green Party would be “even worse” if they end up controlling the council after all ballots are counted on May 8.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) on Tuesday, April 28, the first-time candidate praised the “super trendy” East London borough he has called home for the past three years, and pledged to make it more affordable while “putting British citizens first”.
“Hackney is full of hardworking people, strong communities, thriving businesses, and huge opportunities. It should be one of the best places in London to live, work, and raise a family,” he said, warning that the “rent monster” was pricing people out of their own borough.
To address this, Almasi said he would fast-track the building of modular ‘flat pack’ homes on top of council-owned buildings and garages. As Mayor he would also cut council tax, push for a police crackdown on crime hotspots in the borough, and turn mothballed public spaces into “innovation hubs” with 3D printing kiosks and free AI lessons.
Funding for these policies would be released by cutting the Labour-run council’s “wasteful” spending, he said, such as on debt repayments, consultancy fees and “vanity projects” like funding non-profit organisations to support migrants and asylum seekers.
However, Almasi claimed it was the Greens who posed an “existential threat” to Hackney residents as he took aim at the national party’s proposal to legalise all drugs, claiming this would lead to a rise in drink-spiking incidents as substances became easier to access.
“I am campaigning for safer streets, to have police on the street and bring the number of rape cases down in my borough. They are campaigning to legalise crime,” he said.
Hackney Greens’ mayoral candidate, Zoë Garbett, has called for a “public health approach” to substance use and promised to work with police to deprioritise the policing of cannabis possession and push for the Metropolitan Police to review stop and search.
Hailing from a family of teachers, Almasi’s professional background is in financial crime, risk and compliance, including at IBM and Lloyds bank. He currently holds a senior position at Barclays bank.
‘Ideology over common sense’
Reform’s candidate accepts that he is a dark horse in the mayoral race widely seen as a contest between the established Labour party and the insurgent Greens. Rejecting “labels” like right-wing or left-wing, Almasi attacked both parties for pursuing “ideological” policies.
He singled out Labour council’s rollout of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) and “one-size fits all” road closures, which he said are “penalising” car users, particularly families and the disabled. Under his watch, a Reform-led council would “immediately” review all these measures with a view to scrapping them, although “critical” controls could remain in high-risk areas like schools and hospitals if 70% of residents backed keeping them.
The Greens, he claimed, were like Labour but “without any accountability”.
“They are coming just from ideology, rather than any kind of common sense. They will not have enough money to do any of the things they are proposing to do,” he claimed.
Almasi said he would take a more “pragmatic” approach to tackling Hackney’s 8,500-strong housing waitlist. A Reform-led council, he says, would use a “very transparent” dashboard which would assign social housing priority to disabled people, veterans and British citizens.
A Reform-led council would stop housing illegal immigrants in temporary accommodation, he said. Almasi also wants to put an end to Hackney’s status as a Borough of Sanctuary, an accreditation given to local authorities for showing their commitment to welcoming and supporting refugees, migrants and people seeking asylum.
“I have great empathy for genuine asylum seekers,” he told the LDRS, but deemed this policy another example of the council putting ideology first. “Hackney should be a sanctuary for taxpayers, working families, pensioners, and vulnerable residents – not a political statement for open-border policies.”
A Green Party spokesperson defended the party’s drug policy, arguing it was backed by health professionals in the Lancet medical journal as “good for public health and public finances”.
Speaking to the LDRS, the spokesperson said: “The Greens plan to legally regulate and control drugs to take the trade out of the hands of organised crime and save lives.
“If you read the Hackney Green Party manifesto, you will see that accountability is central to our principles and approach to governance. The party’s latest council budget amendment demonstrated how we can balance a budget while opposing harmful austerity.”
The local elections will take place on Thursday, May 7. In Hackney, residents will be voting for who they want to be Mayor of the borough as well as choosing their local ward councillor.
The local elections will take place on Thursday, May 7.
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