In the previous election in 2018, the Labour Party maintained its control of the council, winning all 60 seats. The 2022 election took place under new election boundaries, which increased the number of councillors to 66. The election coincided with an election for the mayor of Newham after a governance referendum resulted in the borough keeping a directly elected mayor. In the 2022 Local Newham Council Election The Labour Party won every seat except for two which the Green Party of England and Wales won, taking the ward of Stratford Olympic Park led by the Leader of the Opposition Danny Keeling.
Background
A total of 253 candidates stood in the election for the 66 seats being contested across 24 wards. Candidates included a full slate from the Labour Party (as had been the case at every election since the borough council had been formed in 1964), and a full slate from the Green Party for the first time. The Conservative Party stood 65 candidates (not a full slate of 66, due to a delayed Election Officer's ruling of an over-subscribed nomination), making it the first time since 2010 they have not stood a full slate. Other candidates who ran were 26 Christian Peoples Alliance, 17 Liberal Democrats, 4 TUSC, 3 Reform UK, and 6 Independents.[1]
History
New ward boundaries for the London Borough of Newham 2022
The thirty-two London boroughs were established in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. They are the principal authorities in Greater London and have responsibilities including education, housing, planning, highways, social services, libraries, recreation, waste, environmental health and revenue collection. Some of the powers are shared with the Greater London Authority, which also manages passenger transport, police and fire.[2]
Newham has been under Labour control since its creation, besides a period of no overall control from 1968 to 1971. In the most recent election in 2018, Labour won all sixty seats with 67.2% of the vote across the borough. The Conservative Party received 15.2% of the vote, the Liberal Democrats received 5.9% of the vote and the Green Party of England and Wales received 5.2% of the vote but none of these won any seats.[3][4] The Labour candidate Rokhsana Fiaz became mayor of Newham in the concurrent mayoral election, succeeding Robin Wales with 73.4% of the vote in the first round.[5] It was the 2022 Election that saw the Green Party of England and Wales win two seats in Stratford Olympic Park with Danny Keeling and Nate Higgins winning their seats. They both became the first opposition in Newham since 1971 and as opposition leader Danny Keeling made the first opposition speech at the Annual General Council in 2023. Nate Higgins held the position of Green Group Business Manager acting as the equivalent as a whip without the whipping procedure as the Green's do not whip.
Council term
In September 2018, Veronica Oakeshott, a Labour candidate for Boleyn ward, resigned because she was moving to Oxfordshire.[6] The by-election in November 2018 was won by Moniba Khan, the Labour candidate.[7] In August 2020, Julianne Marriot, a Labour councillor for East Ham Central, resigned for work reasons.[8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a by-election to fill her seat could not be held until 6 May 2021 alongside the 2021 London mayoral election and London Assembly election. The Labour candidate Farah Nazeer was elected, with the Conservative candidate coming in second place.[9]
In July 2020, eighteen councillors submitted a complaint to the Labour Party about the mayor Rokhsana Fiaz, claiming she treated people unfairly, humiliated them and "picked on colleagues". Two councillors also complained that she hadn't dealt with antisemitism in the local party. After she was re-selected as the Labour mayoral candidate, with the party having responded to neither complaint, Pat Murphy and Quintin Peppiatt resigned from the Labour group.[10]
As with most London boroughs, Newham elected its councillors under new boundaries decided by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, which it produced after a period of consultation. The number of councillors increased from 60 to 66, under new boundaries with eighteen three-councillor wards and six two-councillor wards.[11][12]
Mayoral referendum
A referendum was held on 6 May 2021 on whether to retain the mayoral system, where voters elect a mayor every four years, who appoints their own cabinet, or to change to the committee system, where councillors select members of committees and a council leader.[13] The result was to retain the mayoral system, with 56% of voters supporting the status quo.[14]
Changes Since 2022
Newham as of July 4th 2024
In 2022 Newham saw Labour expel Canning Town South Councillor Belgica Guana for offensive social media tweets. As at 1/7/2024 Cllr Guana is still an independent councillor for Canning Town South.[15] In 2023 there was a by-election in Boleyn ward. Candidate Mehmood Mirza for the Newham Independents party ran and was elected on the 13th of July 2023.[16] Sophia Naqvi took a seat from Labour and later ran for the Constituency of West Ham and Beckton in 2024, coming second.
The defection of Zuber Gulamussen of Plashet ward from Labourgave the self-titled Newham Independent's the role of the principal opposition over the Green Group.[17]
In July 2024 Councillor Areeq Chowdhury defected from the Labour Party to the Greens representing Canning Town North. This puts both the Newham Independents and the Green Group equal as opposition.[18]
Newham, like other London borough councils, elects all of its councillors at once every four years. The previous election took place in 2018. The election took place by multi-member first-past-the-post voting, with each ward being represented by two or three councillors. Electors had as many votes as there are councillors to be elected in their ward, with the top two or three being elected.
All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in London aged 18 or over were entitled to vote in the election. People who live at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, were entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities.[19] Voting in-person at polling stations took place from 7:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters were able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.[19]
Nareser Osei was the councillor for Stratford and New Town ward from 2018 - 2022, and was the only Labour councillor standing for re-election not to be re-elected.
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