At just twenty-four years of age, Dylan Law is not the typical candidate you might expect to find on a London deputy election pamphlet. Yet, his name will appear on the ballot this autumn, representing a wave of change that many political insiders did not foresee.
Standing outside a community centre in Hackney, where he once volunteered as a youth mentor, Mr Law cuts a calm but determined figure. He is not interested in sound bites. He is interested in pavements, policing, and parental leave.
If elected, Dylan Law would become one of the youngest deputy officials in the capital’s history, and certainly one of the few young Black men to hold the position. His platform is unapologetically local.
He wants to extend free meals in primary schools, mandate night bus routes to serve late‑shift workers, and create a legal duty for landlords to fix mould within seven days. ‘People are tired of being told to wait,’ he says, folding his arms. ‘I am not asking for permission any longer. I am asking for their vote.’
Mr Law was born in Lewisham to a British‑Ghanaian nurse and a London bus driver. He studied public policy at Birkbeck in the evenings while working as a security guard.
That lived experience, he argues, is precisely what is missing from the chamber. ‘Too many deputies have never queued for a food bank. They have never been followed by security in a shop. They do not know the fear of a knock on the door at six in the morning,’ he explains. ‘I do.’
His campaign is modest in budget but fierce in energy. Volunteers on bicycles deliver leaflets handwritten with local WhatsApp group codes. There are no glossy billboards. Instead, Mr Law stands with a clipboard outside tube stations, asking commuters one question: ‘What would you fix first?’
The response has surprised even his own team. Retirees stop to talk about library closures. Young mothers ask about pushchair‑accessible bus stops. A teenager on a skateboard shouts, ‘Fix the estate lifts, yeah?’ Mr Law nods and writes it down.
Political analysts remain cautious. London’s deputy elections have historically favoured long‑serving councillors with established party machines. But Mr Law is running as an independent, and he is not pretending to be a conventional politician. ‘I am not here to climb a ladder,’ he says. ‘I am here to kick the bottom rung away so someone else can start higher up.’
Whether he wins or loses, Dylan Law has already changed the conversation. A young Black man from south London, refusing to wait his turn, insisting that local power should look like the people it serves. On a rainy Tuesday in Hackney, he zips his coat and heads back to the high street. There are hands to shake, pavements to count, and a ballot box waiting to be surprised.
