From Council Chamber to Erotic Chapters: Cllr Simon Rush’s X-Rated Side Hustle?

As Newham Labour councillors begin the quietly fraught process of applying to stand again in the May 2026 local elections, the usual political nerves are being stirred by a single, deceptively simple question on the application form:

“Is there anything in your past that you know of which would bring the Labour Party into disrepute?”

For most councillors, this is a moment for brief reflection, perhaps a chuckle over an ancient student union speech. For one councillor, however, this question may hit a little differently. Step forward Cllr Simon Rush — Newham’s very own elected representative and, as it turns out, an amateur author of erotic fiction. Very erotic fiction.

Now, we at Open Newham are broad-minded folk. A councillor who writes novels on the side? Harmless enough, surely. But not all side projects are created equal, and not all novels are fit for a family bookshelf. Cllr Rush’s chosen genre — which we will only describe as “adult content” — is not for the faint of heart, or indeed, or anyone under 18.

These aren’t your standard steamy romances. We’re not talking about a racy passage in a seaside paperback — this is material so graphic, so intensely explicit, that even we as a responsible publication cannot, and will not, reproduce excerpts here. To say it goes beyond “tasteful erotica” is putting it mildly.

Naturally, some may argue that what Cllr Rush pens in his spare time is his business. Art is subjective, after all. But the trouble for Cllr Rush is that his "literary" works are not confined to dusty drawers. They are out in the open — published, searchable, and disturbingly vivid. They provide a rare, if not altogether welcome, insight into the councillor’s imagination — and, one suspects, they may not sit well with every voter in his ward.

It appears the GMB Union thought as much. Cllr Rush once served as secretary of their taxi drivers’ branch — a position he quietly gave up after his explicit works came to light. If it was too much for a trade union, the question now falls to the Labour Party: if it disqualified him from that role, how could it possibly be appropriate for public office?

This isn’t merely about embarrassment or bad PR. It’s about judgment — and about the standards the Labour Party sets for its representatives. Constituents, after all, don’t just elect policies. They elect people — and character, both public and private, matters.

As Labour shortlists its candidates in the coming weeks, one imagines that someone — perhaps many someones — will be asking about Cllr Rush’s published past. Whether he is allowed to stand again will tell us a great deal about how seriously Labour takes that all-important question on the form.

We await their decision — and Cllr Rush’s literary future — with bated breath.

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