Plaistow South. The Results are In.

The Winners

Newham Independents storm ahead in Plaistow South overturning a formerly safe Labour seat.

Plaistow South was in the safest ever Labour parliamentary constituency of Plaistow, which Will Thorne MP took with 95% of the vote.

In 2022 there were no Independents standing in Plaistow South. As they did in Boleyn and Plaistow North, Newham Independents have come from nothing to take the seat, caused on this occasion by the death of Cllr Neil Wilson. 

On a turnout of just 23% Md Nazrul Islam took very close to 50% of the vote. Looking at the data from the different polling districts it seems evident that the turnout from the New City estate was stronger, suggesting a more organized campaign to get out the vote by the Independents.

This win gives them a solid and contiguous base from which to launch their campaign for 2026 and the Green St wards look increasingly vulnerable. If it goes the same way in 2026, this cluster of wards would net the Independents 15 council seats alone, almost a quarter of the council.

With the Independents taking two votes for every one that Labour  gathered, this is humiliating for Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz.

The total number of Newham Independent councillors now stands at four, there were none in 2018. This is a remarkable achievement.

And the Losers

This was the result in 2022.

The Labour candidates took over 60% of the vote on a 28.3% turnout.

This was the result on 18th September 2025. Labour took 436 votes, less than half of the number taken by the Independents.

The Labour vote has collapsed and prospective Labour candidates must be wondering where the safe seats are now in Newham.

Labour have a new candidate for mayor, but he will inherit an increasingly unpopular local party and an unpopular national party. They will also face a lively new party that is hungry for power. 

We will reflect upon the performance of the minor parties in a future article.