Uma Kumaran has been out and about, supported by the mayor and a handful of councillors.

We noted in an earlier report that “Holding all the elections on the same day is sensible. It saves work and money. By holding council by-elections on the same day as the general election, you are guaranteed to double the turnout of voters. This, historically speaking, has been to Labour’s advantage.”

Cllr Sophia Naqvi has an uphill struggle if she wants to overturn Labour’s majority in the new constituency where she is facing her erstwhile council colleague, and recently selected Labour candidate, James Asser.

The satirical Guido Fawkes website noted that it was not only former councillor, James Asser who benefitted from the decision of Labour’s NEC to appoint several of their own members as parliamentary candidates. A fact noted by the Independent Group.

First came the shock resignation of Lyn Brown MP on Tuesday. Our sources tell us that Lyn Brown, who has represented West Ham constituency since 2005 had been approved as a shoe-in to the new Stratford and Bow seat. She, it seems, then conducted something of a straw poll to determine the level of support she would get from the voting public.

The announcement of a general election in July has led to some hurried rearrangements by the Labour Party in Newham.

This is what we hear:

It does appear that we have a little more information about parliamentary candidate for the Workers Party, Halima Khan. It appears that she is a former staff member of the Labour Party, and we presume a former Labour Party member.

The Independent Group have selected Councillor Sophia Naqvi, as their candidate for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

It’s funny how the prospect of two, as yet unallocated parliamentary seats, inspires people to come in to support Newham Labour in their campaigning.

We learn from The Workers Party, that they will be supporting an ex-Labour Party member, one Tahir Mirza in his bid to become the MP for East Ham. Those wishing to support his campaign can do so via Crowdfunder. It does appear that he needs some help.

A by-election is not a general election. Turnout is typically low. Only 31,107 voters bothered to cast a vote in the Rochdale by-election, (compared to 46,476 in the 2019 general election). It is a chance to give the government a bit of a kicking without disturbing anything too much.

In an embarrassing volte face, the Labour Party have been forced to remove their endorsement of Azhar Ali. Labour was defending a majority of over 9,000 and Ali was facing a serious challenge from George Galloway. Both men were seeking to capitalize on the Muslim vote in a by-election that was dominated by events in Gaza. Does that sound familiar?

We see that Momentum stalwart, Tahir Mirza has announced that he will be standing for the Independents against (Sir) Stephen Timms MP in the forthcoming general election.

Our crystal ball is a little cloudy. We are thus, unable to say whether Labour’s problems are a temporary blip or whether we are seeing a permanent realignment.

It may simply be that things are quiet on the home-news front, but we are beginning to see again, reports that Jeremy Corbyn MP is planning to start his own political party. The reports are said to emanate from ‘friends’ close to Corbyn.

We see that Newham Independents have chosen a second candidate for Plashet Ward. This brings the running total of male/female declared candidates to 6:1. They have, as yet, chosen not to select any trans or non-binary candidates.

On this occasion they have chosen a former Tory activist and candidate.

When we interviewed Mehmood Mirza, he was at pains to point out that he wanted Newham Independents to be a broader coalition. He reminded us that he was a socialist and when he was in the Labour Party, he was on its left.

It seems that the Independent Group are dripping out the news to prolong the suspense, but we see that former Labour councillor, Idris Ibrahim will also go on the slate for Green St West.

The Independent Group promised to begin recruiting for candidates in 2026 immediately after the Plaistow North byelection. They have been true to their word and have announced their candidate for Green St West. The whispers from Labour Group suggest that many of the current crop of Labour councillors do not intend to stand again in 2026. If this is true, Labour will be on the back foot when it comes to candidate selection, probably in March 2026.

A letter, purporting to represent a large number of Muslim organisations in the borough has been written to Lyn Brown MP. Brown, readers will recall, chose not to vote for the SNP cease-fire motion.