Md Nazrul Islam more than doubled the votes won by his Labour rival in the Plaistow South by-election and said “people are not happy” with the ruling party, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

Newly elected Plaistow South councillor Md Nazrul Islam celebrates his win (credit LDRS) — Newly elected Plaistow South councillor Md Nazrul Islam celebrates his by-election win (credit LDRS)

Newham Independents won a council by-election in Plaistow South last night (Thursday 18th) in a blow to the borough’s Labour administration.

Md Nazrul Islam won the seat yest with 913 votes, while Labour’s candidate Asheem Singh came second with 436.

Thew newly-elected councillor said he won because “people are not happy with Labour”.

He said: “Labour on so many things in the Newham borough is not thinking of the people. This borough is a poor borough.”

Cllr Islam added that residents were unhappy with housing issues, the level of council tax – which rose by almost 10% in Newham this year – emmission-based parking permits, and charges for bulky waste collections.

He said: “The council tax, the car parking tax and the bulky waste collection also – that’s the reason people are not happy with Labour.

“So many people have housing problems, I can try something to make it better for them.”

Labour candidate Ash Singh said his party had fought a “fantastic campaign”. But he said the result showed the party needed to listen to borough residents.

Singh said: “It was a very disappointing result obviously. But we fought a fantastic campaign, we galvanised our supporters.

“It would be absolutely right to listen when the electorate deliver their verdict. This is a very difficult result for us. We need to get out into our communities, talk to people, understand what we can do better, how we can be the best possible representatives, be the best possible organisation for them.

“So I think there is a journey that we need to go on to get where we need to be.”

He added: “I think there are a lot of dangerous things happening in the world that tend to polarise us.

“All we can do as the Labour Party is continue to fight back for a more united, caring, harmonious society. That is not a journey that will be made in one step.”

Cllr Islam and his supporters wore Palestinian scarves – keffiyehs – at the count, and chanted “free Palestine” in celebration outside.

But Newham Independents group leader, Mehmood Mirza, said the result was “not a protest vote about Gaza”.

He said Newham Independents – which now has four councillors and form the official opposition – could soon challenge Labour for control.

Cllr Mirza said: “People were saying anyone but Labour. Reform has taken over many councils – I don’t think Newham is very different.

“The Labour Party is no longer representing the interests of the working class.”

Council elections for the whole of the borough are set to take place in May 2026.

Cllr Mirza said that if Newham Independents controlled the council they would challenge the government for more funding.

He criticised the government’s promise to increase defence spending by £13.4billion by 2027, saying that instead “the government should be funding councils properly”.

Cllr Mirza added that his group would now “challenge the Labour Party” and “make Labour accountable”.

The by-election was called after the death of Labour councillor Neil Wilson, who won the seat with 1,360 votes in the 2022 local election.

Turnout in yesterday’s by election was 23.07% – 2,057 out of an electorate of 8,926.

Plaistow South by-election result in full:

ISLAM Md Nazrul	Newham Independents	913
MIAH Rois	Local Conservatives	123
MILLER Sheree	Liberal Democrats	90
MONU Lazar	Reform UK	329
MOTTE Nic	Green Party	152
SINGH Asheem	Labour Party	436

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