Five candidates have been officially confirmed for the upcoming Trinity ward by-election, scheduled for 27 August. They are:
- Otto Jacobsson (Local Conservatives)
- Shirin Georgiani (Labour Party)
- Sylvain Magne (Green Party)
- Dylan Henderson (Liberal Democrats)
- Josh Stanton (Reform UK)
The by-election is an important one, with control of Wandsworth Council at stake following the resignation of Trinity councillor and former Labour deputy leader Lizzy Dobres.
Political balance of the council is on a knife-edge, with 29 councillors representing the Conservatives and 27 representing Labour. Independent Malcolm Grimston is currently the kingmaker and allows the Conservatives to govern under certain conditions via his Confidence and Supply agreement.
If the Conservatives win the Trinity ward, they will have a working majority and would be in a position to walk away from their agreement with Cllr Grimston.
Meet the candidates:
Otto Jacobsson (Conservative)
This will be the 3rd time that the Conservatives have selected Otto Jacobsson as their candidate at a local election.
Otto was the Conservative candidate in the Tooting Broadway by-election in January 2024. He secured 542 votes (19.3%) and finished second behind Labour’s Sean Lawless.
He then stood to be a Conservative councillor in Trinity in May’s local elections. He stood alongside fellow Conservative Kirsten Botting and finished 4th with 1,518 votes, 65 votes behind the third placed Labour candidate and sitting councillor Jack Mayorcas.
In January, Otto became the Chief Executive Officer of YAP Global, “an international digital assets PR and communications firm that works with meaningful companies and organisations in the cryptocurrency, decentralised finance (DeFi) and web3 sector.”
According to YAP Global’s website, “Otto is a regular speaker at blockchain industry events across continents, including Zebu Live and European Blockchain Convention on topics that range from traditional financial adoption of digital assets to onchain financial infrastructure.”
With these numerous commitments and responsibilities, questions are likely to be asked if Otto can commit the time needed to be a Conservative councillor.
Shirin Georgiani (Labour)
A “single mother who has lived in Wandsworth for many years”, Shirin Georgiani also stood to be a councillor for Wandsworth Town in the May local elections. She secured 2,095 votes, finishing 5th and was only 95 votes behind 3rd place Noel Dube (Conservative).
A procurement consultant with TLT LLP, Shirin works in public procurement, policy and governance, with recent roles including Procurement Consultant at TLT LLP, Procurement Policy & Governance Lead at the London Borough of Merton, and Senior Procurement Policy Officer at Croydon Council.
During the May election campaign, alongside over 1,800 candidates, she signed the “Candidate Pledge for Palestine” — promising to uphold the “inalienable rights of the Palestinian people”, “support efforts to prevent and ensure accountability for Israel’s genocide and apartheid” and to ensure “my council is not complicit in Israel’s violations of international law.”
Sylvain Magne (Green)
Like his fellow candidates, Sylvain Magne also has recent local political experience. He stood as a Green councillor in the Wandle ward in May, finishing 6th on 541 votes. Wandle subsequently elected two Labour councillors and one Conservative.
According to Wandsworth Greens’ promotional material, Sylvain has been a “Wandsworth resident of 12 years, with a background in architecture and animation.”
If elected, “Sylvain wants to ensure Trinity isn’t just a place to live, but a healthy, equitable community where high-quality green spaces can go hand-in-hand with social opportunity for everyone.”
Dylan Henderson (Liberal Democrats)
This by-election is the second time Lib Dem candidate Dylan Henderson has stood for Trinity ward.
Aged just 18, he stood for the ward in May, coming 7th with 250 votes. Speaking wth Putney.news, Dylan explained how a combination of the 2016 Brexit referendum and studying A-level politics sparked his desire to run.
“The first time I ever got interested in politics was really the Brexit referendum, which was a huge thing which happened, and that had a massive impact on everyone’s lives. And suddenly I thought, ‘Wow, this is something which is really affecting my life, and it’s probably something I should get into.’
If elected councillor, Dylan will push for a “fairer, cleaner, and greener Wandsworth, which means having a voting system that works for residents, and a council that protects services and looks after communities, putting this at the heart of everything they do.”
We will publish a longer interview with Henderson next week. All candidates have been approached for interviews.
Josh Stanton (Reform)
Josh Stanton is standing as the Reform UK candidate – and is also his own election agent, giving the correspondence address as Reform UK’s Millbank Tower headquarters.
This is not Stanton’s first outing for the party in Wandsworth. He stood in Northcote ward at May’s local elections, coming 9th with 235 votes in a ten-way contest for the ward’s two seats: one of two Reform candidates on the Northcote ballot alongside Alex Therrien.
