New River was a ward in the London Borough of Hackney and forms part of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency. Consisting of an area of Stamford Hill the ward also incorporated the large council estate of Woodberry Down. The ward returned three councillors to the Borough Council, with elections every four years. At the previous election on 6 May 2010 Maureen Middleton (Conservative Party); and Labour Party candidates Michael Jones and Sean Mulready were returned. Turnout was 56%; with 3,956 votes cast.