To begin, some political context. It is, after all, just over a month before a set of borough elections take place that look sure to reshape London’s political map in dramatic ways. There is no more vivid example of that than what could happen in Newham. The east London borough has been dominated by Labour […]
It’s all getting very nervy. In recent days there have been dire predictions that Labour could lose anywhere between 600 and nearly 750 council seats in elections to the capital’s town halls in May. In east London, desperate times are leading to desperate measures. Faced by the threat of an Independent winning the Newham mayoralty, […]
The Newham Independents, a local political party, made a landslide gain in a by-election held last Thursday in the ward of Plaistow South. The Plaistow area has fallen within Labour-run councils’ domains since 1919, initially as part of the County Borough of West Ham and since 1965 as part of the London Borough of Newham*. […]
The Plaistow North ward by-election held in Newham yesterday produced a spectacular Labour loss to Independent candidate Sophia Naqvi in what had previously been a very safe seat. The party’s vote share dropped by 39 percentage points. Naqvi came from nowhere to win with 46.3 per cent of the vote. The result poses some difficult […]
Newham has never been synonymous with electoral excitement. Labour has won 90 per cent of seats or more in every local election since 1978, and the appearance of two Greens on the council in 2022 was more competition than usual. On Thursday, the party had to defend two seats in by-elections – always a riskier […]
The government’s most recent energy price guarantee may prevent the most extreme cost-of-living crisis scenarios occurring, but it will do little for many people living in Newham – a borough ranked high for fuel poverty and by certain other deprivation measures – where some of those seeking support say the situation they face is worse […]
Across the capital local authorities are trying to get to grips with what rocketing energy prices and other cost of living hikes could mean for them and for their residents in the months to come. Newham last week convened a summit hosted by the borough’s Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz. The council’s stated view was that even […]
The Labour Party could face legal action over its re-selection of Rokhsana Fiaz to seek a second term as the borough’s Mayor and its alleged failure to address complaints about her made by Newham councillors and other party members since her election in 2018. Funds are being raised to pay for a “pre-action letter” to […]
