Is Newham Labour Running Out of Men? Labour Recycles Election Leaflet.

There appears to be a shortage of male candidates from the Labour Party. We understand that Labour has chosen their candidate to fight the byelection in Little Ilford. Our sources tell us that, following his storming performance in Plaistow North, where he came second to the Independent candidate, Aktharul Alam has been chosen to fight in Little Ilford for Labour.

He will be defending the seat vacated by Liz Booker with the main competition coming from Newham Independents.

When Booker took the seat in 2022, she did so with Labour taking 60%-63% of the vote. This is a commanding majority which should normally see Labour feeling confident.

However, in the same election Labour took 64%-71% of the vote in Plaistow North. In the by-election a year later, that vote had dropped to 27%, with Newham Independents taking 48% of the vote and the seat.

Given that the byelection will not bring anything like the same numbers out to cast their ballots as the general election, Newham Independents are confident of taking another seat.

Below, Labour’s Alam and the Independents’ Taki Shah share a photo opp. at an Eid event.