Labour Group Instructed to have NO Contact with Open Newham

Spoiler Alert: It didn’t work!

It appears that the results of the last two byelections have rattled the London Region of the Labour Party. Regional officer, Larry Culhane, visited Newham on Monday 4th. We understand that he had a private conversation with Mayor Fiaz, which must have been fun for both of them.

He later addressed the members of the Labour Group as they met in the evening.

It seems that London Labour have decided that the catastrophic results in Boleyn and Plaistow North have nothing to do with the performance of the mayor, nothing to do with increased taxes and nothing to do with the decline in performance standards. It has nothing to do with the litter on the streets. It has nothing to do with anti-social behavior and prostitution along the Romford Road. It definitely has nothing to do with fly tipping, and the cost of residential car parking played no part in the voters’ choices. For those that were aware, the impending cuts in the budget will have had no effect whatsoever on their voting intentions.

We have noted how, in the past, the failings of the council are never the fault of the mayor. The meme below from the Independent Group expresses this perfectly, (we wish we had access to their graphic designer).

There are apparently, two reasons why Labour did so poorly, (three if you include “how well the Independents ran their social media campaign”).

The first reason is that councillors failed to turn out to support the candidate, which is largely true. No-one seems to have asked why Labour councillors were so unenthusiastic about campaigning, (nor whether it would have made a difference). We can offer a couple of suggestions. Half of them, or maybe somewhat more than half, do not want Fiaz as mayor. They are content to see Labour lose a seat or two if it means that Fiaz will be taken down a peg.

Some of them have decided already that they are not going to stand in 2026, how do they build up the enthusiasm for a cold winter campaign in support of a council and mayor that are clearly failing? The party is unable to exercise the levers of power on them anymore.

Any additional moral compulsion to comply is lessened because they are unable to support a mayor who has been so disastrous for the borough and for the party.

It seems that the Labour Party has taken the strategic decision to support Fiaz in office at the expense of the health of the council. This is understandable. They have few options. They could demand her resignation from an £80-grand-plus, job. But she could say “no”. They could offer her a damehood, such things have happened in the past, (mentioning no names), but that might just stick in the craw.

They could suspend her membership of the party, but that would leave them in the situation where they lose a Labour mayor and gain an independent mayor; it was something of a lose-lose option.

So, they seem to have decided to face it out. There are no problems. Labour will support the mayor. Perhaps, people will forget, given time.

A second reason Labour did badly is us! It seems that members of the council have been leaking information to Open Newham. It is not that the reports we provided were untrue, it is that they exist!

Rather than address the issues, you know, bullying, breakdown in the relationships between mayor and council, antisemitism, policy failure, gross overspending and imminent cuts etc; the way to resolve the issues is to beat down on councillors.

Threaten them to ensure, (err, try to ensure), that no news gets out.

It is with immense regret that we have to note that Labour now seems to be less interested in fixing the problems than it does in fixing its members. That is a strategy that didn’t work well in Hull or in Slough.

Hull’s Lib Dem leader Mike Ross told the BBC: “There’s obviously issues around the road network. But there is also, fundamentally, the fact that people feel failed by a Labour council after over a decade – one that seems to have refused to listen to what the residents of Hull want.”

The BBC reported, “Council tax bills have risen by 9.99% this year with the then Labour-run council saying it was something they had to do to fill huge holes in its budgets.

“The decision cost them dear in the local elections earlier this month where they were left with 18 seats. The Conservatives secured 21 and the Lib Dems three.”

Not listening to residents and massive tax hikes. Does this ring any bells for anyone?