Philip Glanville: Hackney mayor faces no-confidence motion

Hackney mayor Philip Glanville (right) attended a party with Tom Dewey (left) despite knowing he had been arrested

A motion of no confidence has been tabled against a mayor who was photographed at a social event with a councillor arrested over child abuse images.

Philip Glanville announced on Monday he was taking a paid leave of absence after he was suspended by Labour.

Green opposition councillors who tabled the motion said they were "appalled by his conduct".

They have also called for an independent investigation.

Mr Glanville was suspended from the Labour Party after a photo posted on social media showed him at a Eurovision party with former Hackney councillor Tom Dewey.

Dewey was arrested on 29 April 2022 over child abuse images, and the photo shows him with Mr Glanville at the party on 14 May the same year.

Dewey later admitted three counts of possessing indecent images of children. Five of the images were in the most serious category A, 41 in category B and 203 in category C.

'Damaged beyond repair'

When he was suspended last week, Mr Glanville said he had not known of the "full extent" of the allegations against Dewey.

A Labour source previously told the BBC that the photo showing the pair at the event was "a clear contradiction of information that was previously given by Philip Glanville to us and the media".

About 40 to 50 Hackney residents gathered outside the town hall on Wednesday evening to express their anger at the mayor.

One resident, who has worked in safeguarding, said: "There are so many vulnerable children. People are looking for leadership. It's hard to safeguard kids in this borough and people want inspiration."

Zoë Garbett is the leader of Hackney Greens

Green leader Zoë Garbett, who put forward the motion, is calling for Mr Glanville to resign, after seven years in office, saying "trust and confidence in the mayor has been damaged beyond repair".

She added: "His position is untenable, which is why we - along with many other Hackney residents - are now calling for his resignation. Without that, we can't even begin to work to restore trust in the council."

She has previously called for an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Dewey's resignation and the subsequent De Beauvoir ward by-election, in which the Green candidate finished second by just 27 votes.If accepted, the no-confidence motion will be debated by the full council on 27 September.

Analysis

By Susana Mendonça, BBC Radio London political reporter

With the Green Party now tabling a vote of no confidence and some local people accusing the elected mayor of Hackney of misleading them over what he knew and when, pressure is mounting on Philip Glanville to stand down.

But the reality for those who want to push him out is that there is no clear cut mechanism for removing a directly-elected local council mayor mid-term, unless that person chooses to step down themselves.

One approach could be a local referendum to abolish the mayoralty altogether, but that's a complicated process and gets rid of the role, not just the person.

Mr Glanville has announced he's on a "leave of absence", but he will have had little choice because with Labour suspending him last week he would have been unable to chair meetings of the Labour group as an independent, making the governance of the council unworkable.

Under local government rules if a directly-elected mayor is "unable to act" the deputy mayor fills in. So that's what's happening in Hackney now. But for how long?

While he may have temporarily stepped aside, Philip Glanville is still officially the directly-elected mayor of Hackney and as such currently remains on full pay (£89,224.50 for the year in 2023/24).

Council sources tell me the pay situation could change and that some in the council are reluctant to wait for the outcome of a Labour Party investigation to resolve things. After all, Labour doesn't have a great track record for swift internal disciplinary processes.

If the elected mayor does end up quitting there would have to be a by-election. Considering the backdrop, that could be risky for the Labour Party, even in a borough as traditionally Labour-leaning as Hackney.

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]