West-central London: Oakridge · Hyde Park corridor
Incumbent Steve Lehman, on council since 2018, is seeking a third term against two challengers. Nominations closed August 21, 2026; the City certified the list on August 24. Ward 8's lines likely carry over from the December 2024 approval; it wasn't among the late map amendments.
Two candidates carry a prior election record. London used Ranked Choice Voting for the 2018 election only; results since have used the standard one-vote system. Osam Ali ran for Ward 8 council in 2018, placing sixth of nine with 402 first-round votes under Ranked Choice Voting, per the City's official results. Steve Lehman, the incumbent, was elected Ward 8 councillor in 2022 with 3,669 votes (69.55%) of four candidates, per the City's certified results.
The rest of the field: Coralia Esterra Tudor.
Listed alphabetically. Identical treatment for every candidate. That's the deal.
Ran for Ward 8 council in 2018: placed sixth of nine with 402 first-round votes under Ranked Choice Voting, per the City's official results.
Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.
Elected Ward 8 councillor in 2022: 3,669 votes (69.55%) of four candidates, per the City's certified results.
Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.
Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.
No endorsements · Same rules for every candidate · Sources linked · Answers published word for word · How we research →
Honestly told: the situation, the numbers, and what to ask the people who want your vote.
Oakridge and the Hyde Park area sit inside the fast-growing part of the city that drove the citywide ward boundary review; the City has cited high growth in the north and west as a driver of the 2026 boundary shifts. The City also runs an "Oakridge Decides" participatory-budgeting page for the neighbourhood.
As the west end grows, name one thing in Oakridge or Hyde Park you'd fight to keep exactly as it is.
To hold down the tax impact of the 2024-27 Multi-Year Budget, Lehman and Deputy Mayor Lewis proposed in 2024 to cancel funding for the City's Capital and Innovation Grants and Neighbourhood Decision Making program for 2025-2027; the nonprofit sector, via Pillar Nonprofit Network, publicly opposed the cut. The outcome is now confirmed from the City's own records, and it was a reduction rather than the proposed cancellation: the annual grants pool fell from $496,000 in 2024 to $250,000 in 2025, with the Grassroots, Innovation and Capital streams all still funded in 2025. For 2026 the City again made $250,000 available but restricted it to Capital projects only, with a $50,000 cap per grant, so the Innovation and Grassroots streams were not offered this year. The 2026 recipients had not been published as of August 2, 2026.
2024 allocations totalled $496,000: Grassroots $100,000 + Innovation $239,890 + Capital $156,110. 2025 allocations totalled $250,000: Grassroots $115,780 + Innovation $96,330 + Capital $37,890. For 2026 the City announced $250,000 available for Capital projects only, capped at $50,000 per grant. The 2024 and 2025 figures are sums of the individual awards the City lists; the 2026 figure is the amount the City announced as available, not an allocation total. City of London Community Grants Program ↗
When taxes and community grants collide in the budget, which gives, and where specifically?
The City has an active Vacant Buildings By-law (A-35) and Property Standards By-law (CP-24), and local media have covered derelict-building demolition cases citywide, including a September 2023 property-standards order at 1154 Hamilton Road. No Ward 8-specific enforcement dispute was confirmed in this research pass.
Would you fund tougher enforcement of the vacant-buildings and property-standards bylaws, and with what money?
In 2023, council voted to dissolve the volunteer Urban Design Peer Review Panel after a motion co-sponsored by Ward 8's Steve Lehman and Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis, who argued it was redundant and added time and cost to development approvals. Some of its urban-design role moved to the Advisory Committee on Planning. The change affects how new buildings get reviewed in every ward, including this one.
Council voted 10-4 to dissolve the panel (Hopkins, Ferreira, Franke, and Trosow voted to keep it; Hillier was absent). CBC News ↗
Was dissolving the Urban Design Peer Review Panel the right call, and what, if anything, should replace it?
A CBC reader survey found homelessness, open drug use, and roads topping citywide concerns heading into the 2026 election. They are plausible doorstep issues in Ward 8 too, though no Ward 8-specific polling or reporting confirmed them as active local flashpoints.
The survey drew 330+ respondents and was non-scientific; results were citywide, not broken out for Ward 8. CBC News ↗
Which of homelessness, drug use, or roads do you hear most at Ward 8 doors, and what would you actually vote for on it?
The ballot is one tool, not the only one. Between elections, the people who show up are the ones who get heard, and you can start today, not next fall.
None of it waits four years. The people already in the room are the ones who asked to be.
Only one is on your ballot; which depends on your school-support designation. The guide above explains.
You’ve read the ward. Ward races here can come down to a few hundred ballots, sometimes fewer. In a race that close, your vote is one of the ones that decides it. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to show up, informed.
You’ll need ID with your name and address. Full voting guide: where, what to bring, who can vote →