A Green Party councillor in West London has resigned just 10 days after being elected, leaving taxpayers to foot a bill of approximately £20,000 for a by-election. Simon Anthony won the North Acton ward for the Greens in the local elections on May 7, defeating Labour candidate Guneet Singh Malik. In the early hours of May 8, after his victory, Anthony reportedly approached Ealing Council Leader Peter Mason and taunted him, saying, "I'm so sorry to have spoiled your clean run [of winning seats]."
Ealing Labour responded to the resignation, which was submitted on Monday, May 18, stating that "The Green Party in Ealing have given up on Acton." However, the party intends to field another candidate in the ward, and a by-election is expected to be held by the end of June. Neil Reynolds, Chair of the Ealing Green Party, said: "Unfortunately, one of our five recently-elected councillors, Simon Anthony in North Acton, is unable to continue and has had to step down from his role. We have therefore immediately requested a by-election in North Acton and we will be running a full campaign to try and keep the seat." Reynolds added that the elections demonstrated strong support across the borough, particularly in North Acton, and that a candidate would be announced after a selection process in the coming days. However, the Ealing Green Party has refused to disclose the reason for Anthony's resignation when asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Anthony was one of five Green councillors elected to Ealing Council. Also elected in the North Acton ward were two Labour councillors, Hodan Haili and Blerina Hashani. Hashani was recently appointed to Peter Mason's cabinet as Cabinet Member for a Fairer Start, overseeing the closure of ten children's centres in the borough. Labour will now aim to reclaim the remaining seat from the Greens. Each by-election costs taxpayers between £20,000 and £25,000 to run.
Anthony is the fifth Green councillor in London to resign shortly after an election, following similar incidents in Camden, Haringey, Lambeth, and Hackney. In Hackney, James Tilden was elected for Hackney Central ward but resigned after realizing he was ineligible to stand because he works as a teacher in the borough. In Camden, the local Green Party admitted it was unaware of the eligibility rule before nominating candidates. Jayon Henriques was also ineligible in Haringey, but it was too late to remove his name from the ballot. In Lambeth, Green candidate Saiqa Ali was suspended by the party before the election due to alleged antisemitic social media posts, but it was too late to change her nomination. She is understood not to have taken her seat and would have sat as an independent if she had.
Resignations are not limited to the Green Party. In Essex, Reform councillor Stuart Prior resigned over allegations of sharing racist material on social media. He became the 17th Reform councillor to resign across the country since May 2025, with many resignations linked to vetting or conduct issues.
The full results in North Acton on May 7 were: Blerina Hashani (Labour) 1,356 votes (34.2%), Simon Anthony (Green Party) 1,298 votes (32.8%), Hodan Mohamoud Haili (Labour) 1,296 votes (32.7%), Guneet Singh Malik (Labour) 1,186 (29.9%), Maciej Pawlik (Green Party) 1,051 (26.5%), Nasim Nur (Green Party) 1,001 (25.3%), Sarah Beament (Conservative) 592 (14.9%), Sally Gorman (Conservative) 551 (13.9%), Bob Baker (Reform UK) 530 (13.4%), Simon Quince (Lib Dems) 511 (12.9%), Ann Lazarow (Conservative) 502 (12.7%), Caroline Fanneran (Reform UK) 496 (12.5%), Alan Warr (Reform UK) 449 (11.3%), Alan Whelan (Lib Dems) 396 (10.0%), Patrick Salaun (Lib Dems) 386 (9.7%), Kamlesh Mehta (Rejoin EU) 201 (5.1%), and David L. Hofman (TUSC) 83 (2.1%).
