Brenda Dacres is set to be the new Mayor of Lewisham

Councillor Dacres was revealed as Labour’s candidate in the upcoming mayoral by-election on January 24.

While she still has to win the election set for March 7, the last time voters went to the ballot box to elect a mayor Labour’s candidate Damien Egan swept to victory with 58 per cent of the vote.

Green Party candidate Nick Humberstone came a distant second in 2022, picking up 15.9 per cent of the vote. 

All councillors in Lewisham are also Labour, except Hau-Yu Tam who is currently suspended from the party and sitting as an independent. Dacres has been a local councillor since 2014.

She said it was the ‘honour’ of her life to be selected as Labour’s candidate for mayor and pledged to restore face-to-face council services if elected by voters in the borough. 

Cllr Dacres, who is presently deputy mayor, added: “As a working-class Black woman, I know how hard things are for residents after 14 years of Tory cuts and chaos. But I also know the transformative impact Labour has in power, changing lives for the better – and I will never accept anything but the best for Lewisham.”

Cllr Amanda De Ryk, Lewisham’s cabinet member for finance who stood against Dacres, thanked Labour members who had given her their vote and said it had been an ‘honour’ to stand with Dacres.

Ex-mayor Damien Egan triggered a by-election when he announced he was resigning to become Labour’s parliamentary candidate in the Kingswood by-election in Gloucestershire earlier this month. 

Cllr Dacres, Cllr De Ryk and Cllr Rudi Schmidt subsequently put themselves forward to be Labour’s new candidate for mayor. Cllr Schmidt later dropped out after failing to get short-listed. 

Siama Quadar was announced as Conservative candidate for mayor of Lewisham last week. 

Lewisham Council will publish a list of all candidates in the upcoming by-election soon after the deadline for nominations on February 9.