A newly elected Green Party councillor for North Acton ward has resigned less than two weeks after winning his Ealing Council seat, forcing a by-election in the ward.
Simon Anthony is said to have stepped down after considering his position and citing health reasons.
North Acton residents elected three councillors on 7 May 2026, with 17 candidates standing in a closely fought contest dominated by Labour and the Green Party.
Mr Anthony secured the second highest number of votes with 1,298 votes.
Two incumbent Labour councillors retained their seats, with Blerina Hashani topping the poll and being re-elected with 1,356 votes, while Hodan Mohamoud Haili was also re-elected after winning the third seat with 1,296 votes.
Labour’s other candidate, Guneet Singh Malik, who replaced de-selected councillor Daniel Crawford, came fourth with 1,186 votes.
The Green Party’s other two candidates also polled strongly, with Maciej Pawlik securing 1,051 votes to finish fifth, while Nasim Nur received 1,001 votes to finish sixth.
In a pre-election Q&A with EALING.NEWS, Mr Anthony, who is understood to be in his 70s, spoke openly about his experience living with Long Covid and the impact it had on his daily life.
He said: “I contracted Long Covid in 2020 and know from deep and continuing personal experience the issues facing the NHS and disabled people.”
Speaking to EALING.NEWS, Neil Reynolds, chair of 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.
“The elections have proved the support we have across the borough, and in North Acton in particular. We will announce our candidate after a selection process in the coming days.”
The North Acton ward by-election is expected to take place next month (June 2026), with Ealing Council expected to officially confirm the date soon.
