All-Aboard the Gravy Train
Mayor Fiaz (Pronouns: She / Her), has announced her new cabinet line-up.
She informed colleagues that she would be delivering “those services that matter the most to our residents in line with our sound Budget plans”.
It is believed that members of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission burst into spontaneous laughter when they read the reference to “sound budget plans”.
The Scrutiny Chairs, and many outside observers were concerned that the council was in danger of spending more than it got in income. It was therefore a little surprising to read that Mayor Fiaz had “growth ambitions in mind”.
It seems that after six years in power, she is now “placing further emphasis on delivery and outcomes”, a welcome development if it is true.
Anyway, this is the new line-up as it currently stands.
Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, Portfolio lead for Inclusive Economy and Strategic Housing Delivery, Climate Emergency; and Performance and Transformation.
It seems that despite the advice from her Scrutiny Chairs, Mayor Fiaz has continued to hold onto the reins of regeneration and housing.
She is supported by:
Cllr John Whitworth: Deputy Cabinet Member for Planning and Development, Air Quality and Climate Emergency. Cllr Whitworth is a veteran Corbynista now appears to be the point-man (person) in the mayor’s attempt to marginalise the Green councillors.
Cllr Caroline Adaja: Deputy Cabinet Member for Community Wealth Building Business, Enterprise and Future World of Work. She replaces Luke Charters, whom we assume has now got more time to devote to his parliamentary ambitions. It has been suggested that appointing Adaja to an SRA post is an attempt by the mayor to split the Black Caucus and diminish its effectiveness, (see Carlene lee-Phakoe below).
Cllr Rohit Dasgupta: Deputy Cabinet Member for Equalities, Social Justice and Culture. Inevitably, Cllr Dasgupta will be known as the cabinet member for Woke. He now assumes the role as Head of Street-Renaming & Pronoun Compliance which he should be able to oversee from his office in Glasgow. It seems that he is being rehabilitated by Fiaz, or perhaps she has just run out of friends.
Cllr Steve Brayshaw: Commissioner for Skills and Lifelong Learning. We’re not actually sure what a commissioner is, but that’s ok, ‘cos Cllr Brayshaw must know and we’re sure that he’ll commission very well.
2. Cllr James Asser, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet member for Environment and Sustainable Transport. Clearly, the criticisms of Asser contained in the judge’s comments about the “politically motivated” prosecution of their own staff by Newham Council, have not impacted him in any meaningful way. Judicial findings of bias and an abuse of process are clearly insufficient to remove him from the Number 2 job.
He is supported by:
• Cllr Miraj Patel: Deputy Cabinet Member for Environment. Identified on the register of interests as a ‘Barrister and Consultant’, we look forward to seeing how Cllr Patel out-Greens the Greens.
• Cllr John Morris: Deputy Cabinet Member for Highways and Sustainable Transport. John is a fan of cycleways so look out for some possibly positive changes in the road layout. He is also known to be keen on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, (LTNs). His new boss came under some pressure for the introduction of these in recent years. It is not impossible that Morris is there to act as a lightning rod to absorb the criticism meant for Asser.
3. Cllr Zulfiqar Ali: Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources. Cllr Ali continues to oversee the train-wreck-waiting-to-happen that is Newham’s finances. Interestingly, there is no return to the cabinet for former Finance Tzar, Cllr Terry Paul. But Scrutiny positions will be coming up soon, so perhaps Cllr McAlmont should be watching out. There are now 20 councillors on the payroll-list (plus the mayor). Our understanding is that eleven of them are precluded from voting in the scrutiny elections; but ten of them have a strong interest in supporting the mayor’s choice of those who will scrutinise her actions.
4. Cllr Neil Wilson: Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care. Wilson is a veteran who seems to be able to adjust his position to whatever seems necessary at the time.
Supported by:
• Cllr Mumtaz Khan, Deputy Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care. A social worker, in another borough.
5. Cllr Sara Ruiz: Cabinet Member for Children Services. Returned to the Labour Party after a brief sojourn with Respect to gain promotion in Fiaz’s cabinet.
6. Cllr Shabhan Mohammed: Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Modernisation. Having failed to rehouse all of the families from the Victoria St block by July last year, as promised publicly by the mayor. It seems that the deadline for moving has been extended to May 2023, which gives him a couple of weeks. Cllr Mohammed retains his cabinet position. A millionaire landlord in charge of public housing. It sounds like a comedy sketch, but alas, not. Sensible to remove Landlord Licensing from Cllr Mohammed, (it goes to Cllr Carlene Lee-Phakoe). It was always a bit ridiculous that a millionaire private Landlord should ever have had responsibility for licensing his own business interests.
He is supported by:
• Cllr Sabia Kamali, Deputy Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Modernisation. Kamali is the third of four members to share the responsibilities for housing and the homeless. Prior to her ascent in Labour’s ranks she was only known for her adherence to Islamist parties, (Respect and Tower Hamlets First). We are confident that she has put all of that behind her and that she’ll be working tirelessly to modernise the borough’s housing stock.
7. Cllr Carleene Lee Phakoe: Cabinet Member for Housing Needs, Homelessness, and Private Rented Sector. The Lee-Phakoe family are major losers here. Carlene has been removed from a major portfolio (ASB) and given a sour, if not poisonous, chalice. Newham has moved away from face-to-face meetings with clients it’s all done by phone or email now. Not necessarily a way to improve services to this particular group.
Carlene’s husband Daniel has been a thorn in the side of Mayor Fiaz over the James Riley Point issue, so he should watch out, there may be a concerted attempt from the mayor’s new payroll-allies to remove him from his post as a scrutiny chair.
It appears that the move came as something of a surprise for Carlene. A week prior to the reshuffle she had been at City Hall with Assembly Member Unmesh Desai speaking on Newham’s approach to tackling ASB. Insiders tell us that Cllr Lee Phakoe has not seen eye-to-eye with the mayor over enforcement. In short she wanted to do some, the mayor didn’t. Opinions are divided on whether her side-lining was personal, whether it was aimed at undermining the Black Caucus or whether it was an attempt to reduce the profile of a potential contender for the mayoral role.
8. Cllr Charlene McLean: Cabinet Member for Resident Engagement and Resident Experience, whatever that means. Cllr McLean has been moved on more than any other cabinet member. She now takes on yet another position after her repeated promotions from the role of Deputy Mayor.
She is supported in her onerous task by:
• Cllr Canon Ann Easter: Commissioner for Interfaith and Interreligious Dialogue
9. Cllr Joshua Garfield: Cabinet Member for Education. Another former Corbynista who kinda fell out with Momentum when he discovered that they harboured an unfortunately large number of antisemites. He also fell out with the mayor for the same reason. But all is now forgiven. He’s got a nice little earner and he can try to get a parliamentary seat on the basis of all the hard work he is doing to improve Newham schools.
Supported by
• Cllr Mariam Dawood, Deputy Cabinet Member for Education. This seems to be where she has spent most of her time, in education!
10. Cllr Amar Virdee: Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Crime
A remarkable step up for Cllr Virdee (jnr), who entered the council in 2022 and whose main claim to office, prior to his election, was that his dad’s a councillor. Carlene Lee-Phakoe’s loss is his gain. Insiders have suggested that Virdee will be minded to follow the mayor’s direction rather more closely than his predecessor. The specific area of contention is the reduction of street prostitution in the north of the borough. Newham has adopted a ‘public-health’ approach to the problem. Unfortunately, it hasn’t yielded much in terms of reduction.
Out goes
Cllr Luke Charters. We are not sure whether his demotion comes from a lack of confidence in him by the mayor, (after one year) or whether it is merely an opportunity for him to continue his campaign to win a parliamentary seat 200 miles away, whilst being subsidised by Newham council tax-payers
Reading the tea-leaves.
The mayor has sought to broaden her support in the Labour Group, she doesn’t need it personally, but she would like to be able to influence the choice of Scrutiny Chairs who have shown that they can actually hold her to account. It seems that she refuses to meet with scrutiny members who might want to ask her difficult questions. So, if you can’t win the arguments, win the elections.
By upping the number on the payroll list, she gets 10 members upon whom she can rely to vote the right way, (cabinet members can’t vote for Scrutiny Chairs). It is less clear that she can dangle to prospect of promotion and financial gain before the other members of council now, so we expect to see a lot of lobbying.
She has appointed a spread of male and female councillors, and a range of ethnicities. It’s almost as if she had been moving pieces on a board of intersectional bingo.
It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the mayor is squaring up for a fight with what is left of the Black Caucus, and councillors Daniel Lee-Phakoe and Terry Paul in particular. She might be seeking to edge out Cllr McAlmont (who is going through another divorce), but we’re not sure who her favoured candidate is yet.
It seems that Cllr A McAlmont’s (soon to be ex) wife, Jemima is also slated for removal from the post of Deputy Chief Whip. The rumour mill tells us that Cllr Jane Lofthouse is set to return to the role.
The mayor doesn’t seem to have the votes to remove Cllr Anamul Islam yet, though we are told that she would like to. Lofthouse is seen, we understand as a way of keeping him in check.