Hackney mayor resigns after being pictured with a convicted paedophile

Philip Glanville has officially resigned as Mayor of Hackney, after a picture of him at a party with a convicted paedophile emerged.

The photo with former Hackney councillor Tom Dewey was taken at a Eurovision party in May, after Dewey was arrested over child abuse images.

Mr Glanville was suspended by the Labour party in late August, then temporarily stepped aside on September 6, saying he was taking a "leave of absence."

Today he wrote a letter to the chief executive of Hackney Council resigning.

In his resignation letter, Mr Glanville said, "As I previously made clear I had my trust betrayed, but in turn I made an error of judgement and was not as transparent as I should have been.

"For that I accept full responsibility."

He apologised for the error of judgement, and said he was sorry "to the people of Hackney, the Council and my colleagues."

"At our last full council meeting I stated I had never put the safeguarding of anyone at risk. That remains true. At every stage as mayor, I did what needed to be done to safeguard children and allow the council to do its job without fear of favour."

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Antoinette Bramble, will continue to act in the mayor's place until a mayoral election takes place, likely to be in the next few weeks.

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