Key points
- Newham residents will cast two votes on 7 May 2026: one for their ward councillor and one for the directly elected Mayor of Newham.
- Newham Council is currently led by Labour, which holds 56 of the 66 seats and the mayoralty, with four councillors from the Newham Independents Party, three from the Green Party and three other independents.
- A record eight candidates are standing for Mayor of Newham, including Labour’s Forhad Hussain, the Newham Independents’ Mehmood Mirza and candidates from the Green Party, Conservatives, Reform UK, Communities United Party, Christian Peoples Alliance and Liberal Democrats.
- Poll‑based projections from PollCheck and YouGov‑linked analysis suggest the Green Party will mount the strongest challenge to Labour on the council, while independents are expected to attract a significant share of the vote.
- As reported by BBC News and East London‑based outlets, Labour faces its toughest challenge in Newham for decades, driven by internal tensions, dissatisfaction with national policy on Gaza and immigration, and a series of by‑election losses to the Newham Independents.
- MyLondon and other local news platforms have published a full list of all mayoral candidates and all 66 council candidates, broken down by ward, ahead of the poll.
Newham (East London Times) May 2, 2026 – Newham voters will choose from a field of eight candidates for the post of Mayor of Newham on 7 May 2026, marking one of the most crowded mayoral contests the borough has seen in recent years.
As reported by BBC News listings compiled on 24 April 2026, the full list of mayoral candidates is:
- Terri Bloore – Local Conservatives
- Areeq Chowdhury – Green Party
- Clive Furness – Reform UK
- Forhad Hussain – Labour Party
- Kamran Malik – Communities United Party
- Mehmood Mirza – Newham Independents Party
- Bharath Swamy – Christian Peoples Alliance
- Laura Willoughby – Liberal Democrats
Labour’s pick, Forhad Hussain, is replacing outgoing mayor Rokhsana Fiaz, who announced in July 2025 that she would not seek re‑election. Reporting for BBC London, Hussain is quoted as saying that “things are not perfect” and that Labour must “do better” on services and its relationship with the Regulator of Social Housing, following a C4 rating for Newham Council’s social‑housing management in 2024.
The Newham Independents Party, led into the mayoral race by Mehmood Mirza, has grown from a small local grouping into a significant force, winning three by‑elections since 2022 and now fielding a mayoral candidate who directly questions Labour’s national stance on Gaza and immigration. Campaign materials and interviews cited by BBC News quote Mirza as saying that many residents feel “neglected and taken for granted,” and that some still remember Labour leader Keir Starmer’s past remarks on immigration and his approach to the conflict in Gaza.
The Green Party’s Areeq Chowdhury is positioned as a progressive challenger focusing on climate‑led regeneration and housing‑quality improvements, a line echoed in BBC‑style candidate round‑ups and local commentary. Reform UK’s Clive Furness, meanwhile, is framed in those same pieces as drawing on national‑level concerns about immigration and public‑service performance, while the Christian Peoples Alliance and Liberal Democrats present more niche platforms on faith‑based and community‑governance issues.
Who are the Newham council candidates by ward?
As set out by MyLondon and cross‑referenced with open‑council data and independent local lists, every one of Newham’s 66 council seats is being contested on 7 May 2026, with multiple parties and independents fielding candidates in almost all wards.
OpenCouncilData and similar non‑partisan platforms list all sitting councillors scheduled to stand again, including Labour figures such as:
- Rohima Rahman, Tonii Wilson and Blossom Young in Beckton
- Harvinder Singh Virdee and Mohammed Gani in Boleyn (with Mehmood Mirza sitting as an independent in the same ward)
- Thelma Odoi, James Beckles and Sarah Ruiz in Custom House
- Femi Falola, Shantu Ferdous and Imam Haque in East Ham
- Susan Masters in East Ham South
- Jennifer Bailey, Mariam Dawood and Salim Patel in Manor Park
- Melanie Onovo and Carolyn Corben in Maryland
- Zulfiqar Ali, Joy Laguda and Sophia Naqvi in Plaistow North
- John Whitworth, John Gray and Charlene McLean in West Ham
Independent and smaller‑party candidates are spread across the borough, with Nur Begum standing as an independent in Little Ilford, MD Nazrul Islam for the Newham Independents Party in Plaistow South, and several independents and Newham Independents Party members contesting wards such as Boleyn and Plaistow. Local‑press tallies by outlets such as Forest Gate‑based blogs and open‑data platforms show that the Green Party, Conservatives, Reform UK, Liberal Democrats, Christian Peoples Alliance, Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition and other minor parties are each fielding multiple candidates across the 24 wards, making Newham one of the most competitive London boroughs in 2026.
Why is Labour facing a tougher fight in Newham this year?
Labour has governed Newham continuously since the borough was created in 1965 and has won every mayoral election since the directly‑elected model was introduced in 2002. Yet, as reported by BBC News and East London‑focused outlets, the 2026 contest is widely described as its toughest challenge in decades.
Central to this narrative is the 2024 report from the Regulator of Social Housing, which gave Newham Council a C4 rating—the lowest possible grade—after inspectors found around 9,000 overdue fire‑safety corrective actions, some delayed for more than a year, plus thousands of outstanding repairs and, in certain blocks, no electrical‑installation inspections for over a decade. Commentators quoted by East London Times and BBC London describe this as a galvanising issue for tenants and community groups, feeding longer‑standing frustrations about housing and service standards.
At the same time, commentators highlighted by City AM and BBC News argue that internal Labour politics have eroded the party’s grip on the council bench. One Labour councillor has defected to the Green Party, another to the Newham Independents Party and three now sit as independents, reducing Labour’s formal majority from the 64 seats it held after the 2022 election. Professor Tony Travers of the London School of Economics, cited in BBC‑style analysis, has been quoted as suggesting that this fragmentation raises the risk of no‑overall‑control, even if Labour keeps the mayoralty.
National politics has also moved sharply into the foreground. BBC News coverage notes that reports of dissatisfaction over Labour’s stance on Gaza have become a visible theme in local canvassing, particularly in parts of Newham with large Muslim communities. Mehmood Mirza, speaking to those outlets, has been quoted as saying that some residents feel Labour leadership no longer reflects their views on foreign‑policy questions and immigration, echoing Keir Starmer’s past “island of strangers”‑linked rhetoric.
How do the current field and polling look for Newham’s 2026 vote?
Polling warnings and seat‑projection models cited by local and national outlets point to a more unstable landscape for Labour in Newham than in recent years. PollCheck’s ward‑level projections, summarised in April 2026, estimate Labour would win around 40 of 66 seats under current conditions, enough to retain formal control but a marked drop from the 64 it held in 2022.
The Green Party is widely characterised as the main challenger on the council, with City AM and BBC‑style pieces noting that the party gained two seats in 2022 and has since picked up at least one defector from Labour, boosting its base. Open‑data and local‑press tallies show the Greens standing a full slate of 66 councillor candidates, targeting higher‑turnout wards where environmental and housing‑quality issues resonate strongly.
Independent and Newham Independents Party candidates are also seen as a key factor, particularly in wards where contentious decisions on housing, planning and community services have left local public opinion divided. Voluntary‑data initiatives such as Democracy Club and local blogs note that independents and micro‑parties are contesting a substantial share of seats, fragmenting the left‑leaning vote and raising the risk of hung or fragile‑majority outcomes.
Labour’s strategy, as conveyed through BBC and East‑London‑press coverage, centres on the re‑branding of the mayoral campaign under Forhad Hussain, with pledges to “do better” on housing, regenerate high streets and improve the council’s relationship with the Social Housing Regulator. Hussain’s campaign team, speaking to BBC London, have been quoted as saying that Labour will “prioritise new residents” and “localise” key services, while still defending the record of the previous Labour administration.
Background to this development
Newham’s long history as a Labour bastion stretches back to its creation in 1965 from the former county boroughs of East Ham and West Ham. The borough has consistently returned Labour majorities on the council and, since 2002, has elected a Labour mayor under the directly‑elected system introduced across many English local authorities.
The 2008 establishment of the directly‑elected mayoral role consolidated Newham’s reputation as a bellwether for Labour’s health in London, with every election closely watched by strategists and commentators. Over the past decade, however, internal Labour disputes—particularly around the former mayor’s leadership style and governance—have contributed to a gradual decline in local approval ratings and a sense of fatigue among some voters.
The 2024 Social Housing Regulator report, which documented thousands of overdue fire‑safety actions and repair backlogs, crystallised these grievances and prompted a formal reassessment of service standards. In that context, Labour’s decision to replace the mayoral candidate and to run the mayoral and council elections simultaneously has been framed by local journalists as an attempt to reset the party’s narrative while acknowledging the scale of the problems.
How could this development affect Newham residents and voters?
If current polling and seat‑projection models are accurate, the 2026 elections could leave Newham with a Labour‑run council but with a significantly reduced majority, or even no‑overall‑control if gains by Greens and independents are large enough. In that scenario, local journalists and policy analysts have been quoted in BBC and City‑style pieces as warning that decision‑making on budgets, housing repairs, fire‑safety remediation and council‑tax levels may become more sensitive to small shifts in councillor allegiances.
For voters who have defected from Labour over Gaza‑policy concerns or local‑service failures, the May 7 contest offers a rare chance to test whether more locally‑rooted alternatives—such as the Newham Independents Party or the Green Party—can deliver on promises to cut taxes and improve housing standards. At the same time, long‑standing Labour supporters may face a more difficult calculus about whether to back a re‑branded mayoral campaign under Hussain or to respond by tactical voting, a shift that could influence the balance of power across London boroughs in the years ahead.
