Newham 2026 Mayoral Race: Labour vs Newham Independents

Key Points

• Newham has been under continuous Labour control since the borough was created in 1965 and has returned a Labour‑elected mayor in every contest since direct mayoral elections began in 2002.
• In this year’s mayoral election on 7 May 2026, a record eight candidates are standing, reflecting both a broader field and a more fragmented political landscape.
• The entire council is being elected at the same time, raising the possibility of a hung or no‑overall‑control scenario even if Labour keeps the mayoralty.
• Labour’s dominance in Newham is being challenged by internal divisions, discontent over the party’s national stance on Gaza and immigration, and a string of by‑election wins by the Newham Independents.
• Under the current mayor’s leadership, Newham Council received the worst possible rating from the Regulator of Social Housing (a C4 grade), following a damning report on fire‑safety backlogs and serious health‑and‑safety failings in its housing stock.
• Labour’s new candidate for mayor, Forhad Hussain, has publicly acknowledged that “things are not perfect” and that the council must “do better” on services and its relationship with the regulator.
• The Newham Independents Party, which has won three by‑elections since 2022, is positioning itself as an alternative to Labour, pledging to cut council tax and criticizing Labour’s handling of immigration and Middle‑East issues.
• Candidate Mehmood Mirza of the Newham Independents has cited Labour leader Keir Starmer’s past “island of strangers” phrasing and his stance on Gaza and Iran as reasons some residents feel “neglected” and taken for granted.

Newham (East London Times) April 24, 2026 – Forhad Hussain, Labour’s candidate for the London Borough of Newham’s mayoral election, has acknowledged that the borough’s record under the current leadership is not what residents were expecting, as he pitches a programme of repair and renewal just weeks before polling on 7 May 2026. Reporting for BBC London while campaigning in West Ham, Hussain said:

“Things are not perfect and we’ve got to do better,”

and added that this is why voters should back Labour with him as mayor.

As reported by BBC London, Hussain also emphasised that Labour would prioritise “new residents” and “localising” key services, while seeking to “improve services and with the regulator” in the wake of Newham being given the lowest possible rating by the Regulator of Social Housing.

That C4 rating, issued in a report published in October 2024, followed inspectors’ findings of thousands of overdue repairs, fire‑safety corrective actions delayed by more than a year, and serious health‑and‑safety failings in the borough’s social housing.

How broad is the challenge to Labour in Newham?

Labour has held the mayoralty of Newham since direct elections were introduced in 2002 and has governed the borough without interruption since its creation in 1965.

However, the 2026 mayoral contest is structurally different from past elections, with eight candidates now in the field, including Forhad Hussain for Labour, Terri Bloore for the Conservatives, Areeq Chowdhury for the Green Party, Clive Furness for Reform UK, Kamran Malik for Communities United Party, Mehmood Mirza for the Newham Independents Party, and Bharath Swamy for the Christian Peoples Alliance.

Writing for BBC News, correspondent Roland Hughes notes that infighting within Labour ranks and discontent among some voters about the party’s national policies—particularly its position on Gaza—have combined with longstanding local frustrations over services to create a “unprecedented challenge” to Labour’s dominance.

Commentators quoted by City AM also highlight that Labour now faces a fractured opposition, with several left‑leaning parties and independents pulling support from what was once a near‑monolithic Labour base.

Why are voters scrutinising Labour so closely?

As reported by BBC News, one of the most visible flashpoints for dissatisfaction has been the Social Housing Regulator’s assessment of Newham Council as the first social landlord to receive the C4 rating, reflecting “very serious deficiencies” in its housing management.

The regulator’s report detailed around 9,000 overdue fire‑safety corrective actions, many delayed for more than a year, alongside thousands of outstanding repairs and, in some blocks, no electrical installation inspection for over a decade.

East London‑based coverage in outlets such as East London Times and City AM points out that these failings have handed critics within and outside Labour a potent rallying point.

In the same pieces, governance experts such as Professor Tony Travers of the London School of Economics are cited saying that factionalism within Labour has already reduced the party’s grip on the council, with several councillors not taking the whip and creating a real risk of no overall control after the 7 May vote.

What are the main challengers promising?

The Newham Independents Party has emerged as a significant local force since the 2022 elections, winning three by‑elections and building a narrative around Labour’s management of immigration and Middle‑East issues.

As reported by BBC News, Mehmood Mirza, the Independents’ mayoral candidate, has told interviewers that many residents “still remember what Keir Starmer has said” about immigration and that some feel “upset” by his stance on Gaza and Iran.

Mirza is quoted as saying voters feel “neglected and taken for granted,” with the Newham Independents pledging to reduce council tax in a borough that is under pressure to make substantial savings.

The party’s campaign literature and local‑press coverage also emphasise local decision‑making and a more responsive approach to housing and community services, positioning the Independents as a community‑focused alternative to what they describe as a centralised Labour machine.

Other parties, including the Greens, Reform UK and the Christian Peoples Alliance, are framed in the BBC’s overview and other local pieces as occupying more niche but potentially vote‑splitting positions.

The Green candidate Areeq Chowdhuary is described in that round‑up as focusing on climate and housing‑quality issues, while Reform’s Clive Furness is presented as drawing on broader national‑level concerns about immigration and public‑services performance.

How has Labour’s internal politics shaped the race?

Labour’s selection of Forhad Hussain as its mayoral candidate in 2025, following the end of the Fiaz era, was widely covered by local outlet Open Newham, which described Hussain as the figure chosen to “take Newham forward” after a period of internal turbulence.

That coverage notes that the selection process itself became a focal point for factional debates within the party, with some supporters of the outgoing mayor expressing reluctance to back Hussain.

Subsequent reporting in East London Times and BBC News has tied this internal discontent to Labour’s poor performance in recent by‑elections, where the Newham Independents picked up seats previously held by the party. In one piece, City AM cites electoral analysts who argue that defections and councillors abstaining or not taking the whip have made Newham one of the few London boroughs where Labour could realistically lose control of the council, even if it narrowly holds the mayoralty.

What role does national politics play in Newham?

The BBC’s detailed piece on the mayoral race underlines that Labour’s national posture on Gaza has become a key talking point for critics in Newham, a borough with a large and politically active Muslim population. Commenting on this, Mehmood Mirza is quoted as saying that Labour’s Gaza policy and associated rhetoric have contributed to a sense that the party no longer reflects the views of many long‑standing constituents.

At the same time, broader dissatisfaction with Labour’s handling of immigration policy—especially remarks by Keir Starmer that Mirza links to the “island of strangers” line used by former prime minister Theresa May—has been cited as a further grievance.

This framing appears in both BBC News and local‑press profiles, which emphasise that Newham’s political culture is being shaped by a mix of local service failures and national‑level debates over identity and representation.

Background to this development

Newham’s long history as a Labour stronghold dates back to the borough’s creation in 1965, when it was formed from the former county boroughs of East Ham and West Ham. Since then, Labour has consistently held a majority on the council and, from 2002, has won every mayoral election under the direct‑election system.

The 2008 creation of the directly‑elected mayoral role strengthened Newham’s reputation as a bellwether for Labour’s fortunes in London, with each contest closely watched by strategists and commentators.

Over the past decade, however, Labour has faced growing internal tensions, including high‑profile disputes over the role and conduct of the then‑mayor Rokhsana Fiaz, which contributed to declining local‑government approval ratings and a sense of fatigue among some voters.

The 2024 housing‑regulator report marked a turning point by formally codifying concerns that had been circulating in tenants’ groups and community organisations for years. In that context, the decision to replace the mayoral candidate with Forhad Hussain and to pair the mayoral race with a full‑council election has been interpreted by many local observers as an attempt to reset Labour’s narrative while acknowledging the depth of the problems.

How could this development affect residents and voters?

If the multi‑party field and internal Labour divisions translate into a no‑overall‑control outcome, residents may find that decision‑making becomes more fragmented, with coalitions or confidence‑and‑supply arrangements required to pass budgets and housing‑strategies. In that scenario, local journalists and policy experts note that issues such as the pace of housing repairs, fire‑safety remediation, and council‑tax levels could become more sensitive to small shifts in councillor allegiances.

For voters who have swung away from Labour due to Gaza‑policy concerns or perceptions of local mismanagement, the current contest offers a rare chance to test whether a locally‑rooted alternative—such as the Newham Independents—can deliver on promises to cut taxes and improve services. At the same time, Labour supporters may face tough choices about whether to back a re‑branded mayoral campaign under Hussain or to punish the party by tactical voting, which could, in turn, influence the balance of power across London for years to come.