Nanouche Umeadi celebrates victory at the Town Hall with her Labour colleagues

LABOUR has recouped one of the seats it lost to the Greens at May’s council elections after sealing victory in a fresh vote in Regent’s Park.

The win was potentially gift-wrapped for the ruling party after the Greens were accused on the doorstep of wasting tax-payers’ cash on an unnecessary by-election triggered by their own organisational botch-up.

It was only revealed after the boroughwide elections that winning candidate Muhammad Abu Naser was ineligible to become a councillor because he is a teacher in a council-run school.

His subsequent resignation caused Thursday’s ballot – the first by-election since Labour prime minister Sir Keir Starmer announced he was leaving Downing Street.

Mr Abu Naser has since quit the Greens and was assisting instead independent candidate Mohammad Junayd Khan. The final scores showed that the offer of both Green and independent candidates may have diluted the opposition to Labour.

It seemed more than possible that predictions of “splitting the vote” had come true.

The independent candidate, Mr Khan, was among the front runners, but couldn’t make a breakthrough. It is a near instant return to the council chamber for Nanouche Umeadi.

She said: “We worked really hard. Whilst doing my day job and having children it’s been a lot – and I couldn’t have done it without the team.

“I didn’t have to do a lot of thinking the operation was all solved for me, I just had to turn up.

“It helped so much so I couldn’t have done it without my team. They haven’t had a break, just look at the family of them, they are my fellow councillors, it’s ours.”

The Greens took all three seats in Regent’s Park ward in May, unseating three former Labour mayors in the process.

Cllr Umeadi was also unseated that day, losing her Kilburn seat to the Greens. Just weeks later, she is now a councillor again, this time for Regent’s Park.

“It’s going to be a lot of work, but the good thing is I’m an experienced councillor so people are definitely going to benefit from it,” she said.

Rows developed over whether Cllr Umeadi was truly local, having represented a ward in the north west of the borough previously.

The same happened to the Greens after their candidate, Alice Brown, tried to win a seat off the back of failing to secure one in Highgate at the boroughwide elections.

Mr Khan said: “I want to lie down for six months, but I’m really proud of the people that came out and supported me – my friends, family, residents everyone from children to the elderly. They may be disappointed but they will be proud.

“It was a great campaign and I’ve learnt so much. I’ve never done anything like this in my life before and I’m not sure I will do it again but it was an incredible experience.”

Ms Brown said: “I’m feeling positive about it. I think we ran a good campaign – we met a lot of people had a lot of really good conversations hearing what peoples issues are. So I think it was all good and it’s something we can build on for the future.”

Ms Brown finished as the first runner-up and the Greens still hold two seats in the ward, which was once considered rock solid Labour.

She added: “We certainly knew the support was there for the Green Party because obviously in the locals we won three positions. It just was a bit more complicated this time, because of the independent.

“But I think it’s good that people can come out and talk about these issues that are affecting them, and I think it’s only going to be for the benefit of Regent’s Park.

“I’m of course disappointed for the Green Party and those members who put a huge amount of effort into the campaign.

“But I’m not disappointed at all because for me – it’s not about winning a seat. It’s about addressing the issues that need to be addressed in Camden and I feel that we can do that as the Green Party, regardless of whether we win a seat. We’ve now got 10 councillors in the council and that gives us a really good opportunity to have an impact.

“I’m going to remain involved in Regent’s Park. That’s my priority at the moment. I’ve made commitments to people and that’s what I want to do. I’m also very concerned about how the council is operating in various spheres, for example how it responds to climate change and the need for action on the climate and ecological emergency. That’s always been a priority of mine and it’s one of the reasons I am in the Green Party. So I’m going to continue working on those issues as well as on housing and how we can get better development in the council. Those are my priorities and whether I’m a councillor or not I’m going to continue working on them.”