It seems that Labour’s Mayor Fiaz has found something useful to do in the days before she leaves office.

She has gone on a jolly at the expense of Newham Taxpayers….. to Cannes!

Residents in Newham will know Kamali as a Labour figure. But her political journey has not been confined to one party, one movement or even one borough. In fact, her path through London politics tells a rather different story.

We know it is an embarrassing payment for the council, but it is a statement of fact that the Mayor was paid £36,000 in the 2024/2025 financial year.  This was to cover the legal costs she incurred in taking her own council to court. 

Clive Furness has today announced that he will be standing as the Reform candidate for Mayor of Newham.

Sir Robin Wales is the New Director for Local Government London for Reform.

It is widely rumoured that Mackin may not be long for the Newham role as any new administration will want to distance itself from the Fiaz era failures which are intrinsically linked to Mackin.

I served for most of my adult life. After nearly 30 years as a Labour member and 20 years as an elected Labour councillor, writing these words feels like a personal failure as much as a political one. But silence, at this point, feels worse.

It seems that we are due for some disruption prior to the May elections. The BBC reports that members of Unite in a number of authorities, including Newham are to be balloted over this year’s pay claim.

Cabinet responsibility is now a part time job with a full-time salary!

Blossom Young holds a responsible role at Poplar HARCA. She also collects £53,215 courtesy of the tax-payer.

We are led to believe that “The Litter Capital of Britain” is cleaner, because Newham has won awards. After seven years and the worst possible rating for housing services, housing services are “turning a corner”.

To recap. Fiaz and her buddies announced a new LTN for the West Ham Park area.

Labour mayoral candidate, Forhad Hussain opposed this.

Hussain won the support of the Labour Group.

Times change and Clive is moving on to other interests, but with news that will either delight or horrify readers, Open Newham has been sold to a foreign buyer.

A recent article in SP!KED revealed that former Newham Mayor, Robin Wales and former Canning Town councillor, Clive Furness have recently left the Labour Party.

Not content to alienate the future leadership of Labour in Newham, former Labour councillor Lewis Godfrey has taken metaphorical pen to paper to alienate Labour’s leader and its apparatchiks.

Godfrey was suspended from the party and subsequently was ineligible for re-selection. We are yet to hear who Labour will stand in his place, albeit for a ward where Newham Independents are very confident of a clean sweep.

Here at Open Newham we understand that mistakes are made, although this is a whopper. What we can’t understand is the lack of transparency around this mistake. 

Silence from the Mayor… 

Silence from the executive member for Children and Young People… 

James Asser has already stuck the knife into two Newham Mayors; is he about to go for a hat-trick and team up with the small group of vocal middle classed councillors and Labour activists who are opposed to the idea of Hussain giving residents a voice in decisions that affect them.

It seems that Candidate Hussain has a fight on his hands with the current mayor and the middle class leftists of Forest Gate who seem determined to make it easier for Mehmood Mirza to win in May and become the very first Non-Labour Mayor of Newham.

We have seen little evidence of Fiaz’s pet programmes being systematically evaluated. The new mayor will have some breathing room, but rest assured, there is still much left to do. Before embarking on any new programmes, the new mayor will need to focus on rebuilding financial stability.

Readers will recall that the majority of the majority party. i.e. most Labour councillors backed the proposal submitted by supporters of the 2026 mayoral candidate, Forhad Hussain. This was essentially, “let the people choose”. 

The main contenders in the race for mayor of Newham have now declared.

Cllr Mehmood Mirza and Forhad Hussain will face of in the upcoming local elections in May 2026.