By-elections will take place on 25th June 2026 in Dalston and Hackney Central wards. Click here for dates and details of upcoming action sessions. Volunteers are welcome from any part of Hackney (or beyond!), whether you're experienced or new to campaigning.

Scroll down to read more about our candidates, Manal Massalha (Dalston) and Noah Birksted-Breen (Hackney Central).

Manal Massalha (L, Dalston) and Noah Birksted-Breen (R, Hackney Central) with Zoë Garbett (C, Mayor of Hackney)

Manal Massalha (Dalston)

I’m standing to be your councillor because I love Dalston and care about it.
I celebrate its communities, its creativity, and cultural and ethnic diversity.
I recognise the tensions, pressures and everyday challenges you face.

Dalston is changing fast. Many residents and traders worry about rising rents, displacement and evictions. Whether they can continue to live and thrive in a place they call home.
They are being failed by inadequate housing, unchecked development, developers’ greed, and a council that too often has not listened.
I am committed to helping make Dalston a home for all. Where everyone can live with dignity and recognition. Where everyone feels they belong.

As your Green Party candidate, I will listen to you and work closely with Hackney Mayor Zoë Garbett and Dalston councillor Rachel Nkiessu-Guifo to demand a fairer, more inclusive Dalston.
Through my professional, academic, and creative work as a social documentary photographer and urban ethnographer, I have focused on displacement, urban health, social inclusion, everyday trust, and everyday hope.

I hold a PhD in Sociology from the London School of Economics, where my research focused on the Right to the City.

Here in Hackney, I have advocated for housing rights and open, democratic public spaces.
I believe local people’s needs and voice must be at the heart of decision-making.
I look forward to speaking with you and working together for Dalston.

- Affordable housing and tenant protections.
- Support for local traders and community spaces.
- Safer, greener streets and public spaces.

Noah Birksted-Breen (Hackney Central)

Noah is a creative and researcher, a community organiser and caring neighbour to Hackney’s diverse communities. As well as making theatre performances, he now teaches international relations at Queen Mary University of London. For six years, he’s been Associate Governor at Southwold Primary School. He has previously mentored refugees through HostNation and SOAS Detainee Support, and is currently volunteering to support a talented young activist through Arts Emergency. Noah runs an independent theatre company, Sputnik, creating performances on themes of social justice and human rights.

Since 2023, Noah has met residents across Hackney through door-step canvassing to understand what brings our communities joy and purpose, as well as the dire challenges and crises facing residents – which he and the Green Party in Hackney can improve and fix.

As your Councillor, Noah will help to realise the most ambitious manifesto ever adopted by Hackney Council, using his experience as joint Co-ordinator of 2026 Hackney Green Manifesto – helping to implement our Green pledges fully, quickly and effectively in Hackney Central. Among his favourite policies are the Green-led Council’s forthcoming support for residents to establish affordable food co-operatives on every major estate. He is dedicated to our pledges on safe roads, clean air and bus prioritisation. Noah will work exceptionally hard to realise community-led development, targeted support for ethical local businesses and to introduce a new community skip making our streets cleaner and better as a place for our communities to mix and spend time.

Noah moved to Hackney seventeen years ago, married at the Hackney Town Hall and is a dad of two girls, born and growing up in Hackney.