Saying Goodbye.

As readers will be well aware, in May 2026 there are going to be council elections in London, (and in much of the rest of the country). Newham Labour is beginning to gear up for the campaign. 

This post says goodbye to some of those elected under the Labour banner. We will bring news of the new candidates in due course. The information is the best that we have at the moment, but if there are any errors, please contact us and we’ll correct them.

There are two former Labour councillors who now sit as independent, ‘independent councillors’, that is to say, they are no longer in the Labour Party, thay are not members of the Newham Independent Group nor any other party. Both are expected to stand down in May.

Guana was embarrassingly selected and appeared on the election material before her rather uncomfortable approval of Hitler’s views on the ‘Jewish Question’ was discovered. She was suspended from the party before the election, but not early enough to be removed from the election material.

Godfrey was suspended somewhat later for reasons that the Labour Party has not disclosed.

Good Riddance 

It seems that there is a mayor and a number of councillors that the Labour Party no longer wants.

Breaking Up Families

There are several Labour councillors who have chosen not to stand again. We have noted previously that there are a number of close relationships amongst the Labour Group; parents/children, husbands/wives. It seems that the Labour Party has decided that this suggests nepotism or some such thing. Consequently, several have volunteered to go (or were encouraged not to reapply). Among this group are the following.

We’ve Had Enough

And then there were those who decided that enough was enough and it was time to go. Some of them have committed years of service to the borough, though their contributions may go unseen, (and for some their contributions will be very difficult to quantify). Some have left the borough. Some will still be smarting from their decision nearly a decade ago to support Fiaz. Some will be missed. Some will not.

Wretched Turncoats and Principled Politicians

Then there are those who have crossed the floor to join either Newham Independents or Greens. Your view on them will largely be determined by your pre-existing sympathies.

This means that there will be at least 17 replacement candidates that Labour will put before the electorate, plus eight to contest seats held by Greens, Newham independents and those who have crossed the floor. Unlike in years past, there is likely to be real competition for seats with Newham Independents, the Greens and even Reform confident of picking up some seats.

It will be interesting to see who is allocated to which seats. Gone, it seems, are the days when Labour could expect to win every seat. The most conservative of estimates suggest that there are between a third and a half of all seats that are vulnerable. Who gets which ward will indicate who is “in” and who is “out” of favour.

Labour started this term of office with 64 out of 66 councillors; the Greens had two. They suspended one successful candidate before she even took office, so it was actually 63. They suspended one more, lost three to defections and lost three seats in byelections. This is the Fiaz legacy.

But you never know, in the long run this might even do Labour some good; whittling away some rotten wood and requiring that the remainder have to do something rather than be carried along on the coat tails of the party.

N.B. We are aware of rumours that the Labour Party is about to lift the suspensions of the local constituency parties, not necessarily to return some element of local democracy, but in an attempt to generate some additional boots on the ground for the campaign that is about to ensue.