Brenda Dacres: Lewisham elects its first black woman as its mayor, but only 20% turn out to vote
A south-east London borough has elected its first black woman to serve as mayor.
Voters in Lewisham elected Labour’s Brenda Dacres to be the directly-elected mayor as she gained 21,576 votes - more than half the vote.
The Green Party’s Michael Herron placed second with 6,835 votes, while the Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Haines placed third with 4,896 votes.
However, turnout in the borough was low, at 20.74%.
Lewisham is one of five London boroughs where residents directly elect a mayor to lead the council, rather than having councillors elect a leader.
The Conservatives’ Siama Qadar placed fourth with 3,784 votes, while George Galloway’s Workers Party was beaten into fifth place with candidate John Hamilton receiving 2,378 votes.
Meanwhile candidates Maureen Maud Martin, of the Christian Peoples Alliance received 1,233 votes, and independent candidate Nick Long received 917 votes.
In a statement after her victory, Ms Dacres said: “I want to thank the people of Lewisham for placing their faith in me.
“Serving this special borough that I have the privilege to call home is the greatest honour of my life. I pledge to work tirelessly for you, and will always have your best interests at heart.”
Ms Dacres was previously the borough’s deputy mayor, and has served as a councillor since 2014.
The by-election was held after former mayor Damien Egan quit to stand as an MP in the Kingswood by-election in South Gloucestershire, which he won.
Lewisham is a Labour stronghold in London, with all 54 of its council seats held by the party.
