Caroline Woodley

Caroline Woodley served as Mayor of Hackney under the Labour Co-operative banner from July 2023, succeeding Philip Glanville, until her defeat by Green Party candidate Zoë Garbett on 7 May 2026. Her loss was the most dramatic individual result of a night that saw Hackney council swing from Labour 44 / Greens 6 to Greens 38 / Labour 6 — an almost total reversal of the balance of power in one of London's most politically active boroughs.

Woodley took office in July 2023 following Glanville's departure and carried forward an agenda centred on housing, cost of living support, and public realm improvements. Her term coincided with the period in which the Greens were making significant inroads across inner east London, building a campaigning infrastructure that ultimately delivered the 7 May landslide. The Co-operative wing of Labour has historically emphasised community ownership and mutual aid as alternatives to both pure state provision and marketisation — a pitch that in Hackney's specific context failed to differentiate Labour from the Green offer on the issues where Hackney voters moved.

Her defeat closes a long Labour unbroken run in Hackney's executive office. The scale of the swing — not merely a close result but a near-total reversal — makes it harder for Labour to frame this as a tactical mishap; it reflects a structural shift in how Hackney's predominantly younger, renting, progressive electorate now views Labour versus the Greens.