Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
The south-central wards swung it for the Greens, but why did people vote as they did?
Above is Haringey's own election 2026 results map with info added from yours truly on the 'hung' wards.
I know in the broad sweep of things why the vote went the way it did nationally, but why did people in Harringay and more widely in Haringey vote the way they did?
Yesterday's results matter. The day may come to be seen as a watershed day for the nation. So, I ask in a genuine sense of enquiry and I'd be particularly interested to hear first hand how people made their choices this year.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Angela on
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Younger voters are more likely to vote for the Green party, both nationally and locally - for a number of reasons
The Green party is seen as the new model, less parochial, more European/international, more in touch with issues
Anecdata obv
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Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh on -
Thank you, Gordon T Huisfuis and Angela.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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I welcome the healthy change to a more energetic Administration and many, but certainly not all, of the Green Party's policies.
At the same time, the size of the Green vote may have been boosted by Entryism.
This, from previous members of Momentum, the Party within the Labour Party. They are likely to have been frustrated by the failure of Your Party to get off the ground. Some Green ex-Momentum Members are closely associated with serious failures of previous Labour Administrations.
Proportional Representation would eventually sort out this kind of mess at all levels.
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We voted Green because it felt like Labour had ceded all responsibility for dealing with the traffic on the Ladder roads to eye-wateringly expensive consultants who don't have a clue what it's really like to live in the area.
Because they sold out Finsbury Park on a five-year contract with no consultation.
Because they had 20 years to implement a cycle plan on Green Lanes but instead capitulated time and time again to the traders.
Because Ducketts Common under their tenure has become a public toilet with human excrement behind every tree (and on open grass) because no one seems willing to enforce the cafe's contract that dictates people should be allowed to use the toilets inside at all times. Signs directing people there would be a start!
Because the pavements on the streets nearest Turnpike Lane, that have some of the highest footfall, have been left to buckle while other streets have been repaved.
Because of litter everywhere and the lack of street cleaning.
Because they sought to carve up Belmont Rec, the nicest and most natural green space in the area, to add more sports provision with floodlights when the area is already well served for that.
Because after decades running Haringey, Labour had developed the attitude and arrogance of a party that's spent decades in power and as residents with genuine grassroots issues that are being ignored, we felt the borough was long overdue a change.
Plus, every conversation we had on the doorstep with our Green candidates left us with a sense of truly being heard. They might not be able to fix everything, but they really, really want to try.
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Just thought of another one.
Because they gave away lovely Hornsey Town Hall. Was supposed to be redeveloped as a community arts centre, got sold off to a consortium that's not fulfilling the brief. The one area that can be hired, the Assembly Hall, is said to be so prohibitively expensive that the Crouch End Festival can't afford to use it.
https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/25848341.hornsey-town-hall-isnt-comm...
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Firstly because Labour's stated policy has been to leave the Ladder to bear all of the traffic burden across the borough while closing every single surrounding residential road to through traffic. This isn't just about constant noise and rubbish thrown out of cars, it will have a serious impact on my and my family's health and life expectancy. The council spent a fortune on consultants investigating this only to tell us it was too difficult and nothing can be done. Well, they closed Whightman Road for six months, and it was glorious. And the borough survived. Something can be done. We're sick of the inertia.
Then, generally, all the seeming corruption. Dodgy property deals that cost taxpayers literally millions. Selling Hornsey Town Hall to a Chinese conglomerate on the cheap and then not enforcing the delivery of a community space, surely the very least we could ask after giving up this local treasure. Rushing through the deal to lease Finsbury Park for more concerts before the election (to whose benefit, you must ask) without due consultation when a literal nazi was then announced to headline for three days. We've seen recently from Tough Mudder the environmental impact on the park from these companies who demonstrably have no regard for it. The constant, unabated fly tipping. The non-existent or downright dangerous cycle routes, Whightman Road being the best example. The seeming chokehold the traders seem to have on Green Lanes which appears to be organised and run only for them and not the community. Their constant, unabated pollution.
And as lots of people have said, the Labour candidates who rang on my door seemed only really interested in communicating Labour's successes (which are honestly considerable) and not very interested in listening, while the Greens, obviously as the challengers, were only interested in listening. Also, I think/hope voters are finally waking up to the climate emergency and using their votes to show that this is a priority. Labour's green credentials are pretty much non-existent, after loudly proclaiming a climate emergency years ago. All talk, no action. But really, for a local election it's the issue on my doorstep: the traffic on the Ladder which had the most impact. I, personally, consider local issues when voting in local elections and national issues when voting in the general election. But it's interesting watching our local MP loudly deciding that Starmer is the problem because almost her entire constituency has gone from Labour to Green (with the obvious consequences she can foresee at the next general election), but I do think that Labour's problems are closer to home.
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The council spent a fortune on consultants investigating this only to tell us it was too difficult and nothing can be done. Well, they closed Whightman Road for six months, and it was glorious. And the borough survived. Something can be done. We're sick of the inertia.
YES to this and the rest!
On traffic and roading, anyone would suppose that the local council had been asked to execute a Mars mission!
Other Boroughs have forged ahead. One of the chronic obstacles in our Borough has been the intransigence of the Hidebound Highwaymen. Hopefully the new crew will undertake the long-overdue refresh, even if it involves the step previously unthinkable by the old crew: Early Retirements.
It's not rocket-science: we need a new, fresh younger breed of Highway Engineers who will be driven by a political-will that may now be falling into place.
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Ann Cunningham (Head of Service Traffic and Parking) has just retired I hear...
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Agree about Catherine West. The fact she's going after Starmer as though it's all his fault suggests she really has no clue what's going on in her constituency at grassroots level.
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GRASS ROOTS LEVEL ~
Catherine West MP has been well aware of complaints over years about Haringey Council's Major Events policy, but she elected to sit on the fence, out of respect for the local Labour Council Group.
Following boundary re-draws, at the last general election, Finsbury Park flipped from theTottenham Constituency to the new and odd-shaped Hornsey and Friern Barnet Constituency.
The new area-responsibility presented a chance to revise her opinion.
Unfortunately, Catherine's view did not change: on the one hand this and on the other hand that … in effect, it supported the ugly park-policy status quo for another two summers. And of course, this supported the local Queen of Entertainment and Grime fan, the ex-leader.
Perhaps Catherine will see the recent clues and now better reflect the views of her constituency, rather than the regrettable Major Event policy of the previous, knackered Labour-Group.
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Permalink Reply by Dick Harris on
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Good question Hugh. I wonder whether one can see also a connection with house prices and their effect on the demography of our area. When I and three friends bought our shared house back in 1979, the area still looked like the destination of poor immigrants (mostly from from Cyprus). Mostly terraced late Victorian, single fronted, un-modernised houses, many poor quality conversions. Personally, I had hardly ever heard of Harringay (or Haringey Borough) beyond dimly remembered references to the dog track and Billy Graham preaching at the Arena. Aspiring first time buyers were settling in better known parts of London.
The contrast today is striking. The Harringay (on both sides of Green Lanes) has become one of the places where young buyers can acquire a nicely converted two bedroom flat or even a single fronted house needing work.
The changed demographic is very noticeable over such a long period and it is plain not just in the increased collective activity but also in the local shops and in the rising standards expected in all things.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I had a similar experience to yours Dick. We moved here from Tottenham in 1984 and it was a solidly working class, Greek Cypriot area, a lot of HMOs (and less traffic on Wightman Road!) and an open air market at The Arena. I think there was still a Woolworths where Iceland is now.
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