Newham Independents are Recruiting

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.

Mehmood Mirza has shown that the Independents have plenty of issues to campaign on, irrespective of the situation in the middle east.

We anticipate that they will begin, over the next six months, to campaign in their target seats, in much the same way as Mirza did in Boleyn.

So far, Labour has no adequate response. All the accounts suggest that they will try to tough it out and rely upon anti-Tory sentiment to win through. 

If there are any readers who can remember back far enough, there was a time when the Lib-Dems energetically campaigned on local community issues. In many places they were very successful, less so in Newham, but that’s a different story. But they had a model for upsetting the local balance of power, remember Tower Hamlets before Lutfer Rahman.

The problem for Labour is that they might have a real fight in 8-10 wards and the party has shown little appetite for campaigning for an unpopular mayor, and by extension, an unpopular council. As we illustrate in the article on the Muslim community’s unsuccessful attempts to meet with MP, Lyn Brown, the rift between Muslims and Labour appears to be growing larger.

In an interesting twist, the Independent Group are now asserting themselves as the voice of the working class in Newham, characterising Labour as an “entitled middle class minority”. Ouch!

In a statement from the Independent Group to accompany the drive to select candidates early, they said:

Newham independents are committed to transforming the electoral landscape of Newham. 

We have embarked on a journey to find and nurture the very best talent from within Newham’s diverse communities.

We are into the second phase of our multi-faceted, selection process and will continue apace to have prospective council candidates installed across all wards.

The days of an entitled middle class, minority dictating to the working class majority are over.

The wins in Boleyn and latterly Plaistow North have demonstrated our unwavering determination to become the dominant political force in Newham.