Aidan White looks ahead to Thursday’s council election

Two men with microphones talking to another men with a microphone in a radio studio — Aidan White talking to mayoral candidates at the Newham Voices hustings – (Credit – Neandra Etienne)

The month of May could produce a seismic shift in Newham politics.

For the first time in decades, the ruling Labour Party faces a concerted challenge over its control of the Council.

With all 66 Council seats up for election, national polling body PollCheck predicts that opposition parties could take as many as 22 seats – a dramatic change and one that crushes the notion of Newham, which has been ruled by Labour since the Borough was created in 1965, as a “one-party state”.

Opinion polling is notoriously unreliable, but information from opposition parties and even from people working and canvassing for Labour, report there is increasing discontent on the doorsteps in the Borough.

The Council election on 7 May could see significant gains for the opposition, particularly the Green Party and the Newham Independent Party.

Newham Voices has over recent months carried major reports on the crisis in Newham – housing, poverty, the council budget – and in our pre-election print issue – available as a pdf here – we give details of all the candidates standing for election in the Borough (see Pages 8-9) who want to bring about change.

We have also encouraged major parties to put their plans to our readers and in this issue we include a statement from Newham Independents Party leader Mehmoud Mirza (See Page 5) and we publish highlights from the manifesto of the Green Party (Page 7).

We have also reached out to the Mayoral candidates. In co-operation with the local community radio Revive FM, on 18 April, a Newham Voices election debate brought together key people who hope to replace Labour’s Rokhsana Fiaz who is standing down.

Leading candidates, including Forhad Hussain (Labour), Areeq Chowdhury (Green Party), Laura Willoughby (Liberal Democrats) and Luke Black, representing Conservative candidate Terri Bloore, discussed their proposals for the future of Newham.

The discussion was feisty – with Forhad Hussain and Areeq Chowdhury trading blows over a personal housing issue (see page 3) – but all of them sketched out strategies for change.

All of them face massive challenges as the Borough continues to deal with a legacy from the last administration during which Newham’s reputation was damaged by critical reports of its housing services and the council administration.

A continuing cost of living crisis, and massive uncertainty over the Council finances which required extra government support to avert bankruptcy, has led to cuts in services, increases in Council Tax and there are reports of a looming £2 billion debt crisis in the coming years.

It’s not all bad news – the election debate heard of Newham’s improving record on education, young people support, inclusion and the extraordinary achievements flowing from the Borough’s vibrant voluntary sector.

But with the highest levels of temporary accommodation in the country, millions being spent to help people living in poverty and widespread voter concern over local issues such as parking, fly-tipping and policing, opposition parties see this as a golden opportunity to press for reform.

Not surprisingly, all of the political parties make grand promises, some convincing, others less realistic given the limited amount of money available.

But all of them agreed at the conclusion of the Newham Voices hustings session – that Newham residents and voters need to make their voices heard at the election.

Local democracy is meaningless unless people exercise their right to vote.

Newham Voices is urging its readers and everyone who lives and works in Newham to use their vote on 7 May.

That is why our print issue was published a few days earlier than usual to give people an opportunity to see who is standing and to find out what their parties are standing for.

The Council website provides detailed information on where to vote and how to vote – don’t forget to bring a photo identification when attending the polling station – and there is a council-produced booklet in which the candidates for Mayor set out their manifesto pledges.

All opinions should be respected, even the ones we might disagree with, but divisive, racist or abusive electioneering should not be tolerated. We hope that all parties will avoid abusive communications such as that which spoiled the campaign in some Newham wards four years ago.

Residents who listen to the arguments, open their minds to all points of view and who take the opportunity to vote can make a difference on 7 May.

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