Labour held on to the mayoralty in Newham despite a hard-fought three-way battle, giving them some relief in a difficult day in North East London.
The fierce three-way battle saw Forhad Hussain secure 25,538 votes, with Newham Independents Party’s Mehmood Mirza in second with 20,234 votes, and the Green Party’s Areeq Chowdhury on 18,999.
Hussain said: “This is the beginning of a new chapter for the borough. Together we will build a Newham where every resident will be proud to call home.
“It is the honour of my life to be elected Mayor of Newham, the borough that made me.”
Hussain takes over from Rokhsana Fiaz, who got 56% of the vote for Labour last time out, and will take up his new role officially on Tuesday.
Previously during the run-up to the election, Hussain had pledged: “We are investing an additional £12 million to clean up the borough. That pledge also includes introducing free bulky waste collection.
“We are going to have dedicated law enforcement officers across our local neighbourhoods enforcing a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping, to dog mucking, to graffitiing, because that needs to be addressed.
“We need to sort out the parking in Newham. I’m pledging that the first permit will be free to our residents. That permit will allow our residents to park anywhere in the borough for one hour everyday.”
East Ham MP Sir Stephen Timms offered his support for the new mayor.
He said: “I think that Forhad will be an excellent mayor. I think he’s got exactly the energy that’s needed.
“His visions are good, ambitious visions for Newham and for its people. I’m really looking forward to working, I hope, very closely with him over the next few years to deliver on the vision that he sent out.”
The turnout this year was 34.9%, compared to 28% in the last election in 2022.
The Labour Party have won every mayor election since 2002, with Sir Robin Wales as the first directly elected executive mayor. He was mayor for 16 years.
Wales has left the party for Reform UK this year, having been appointed London Director of Local Government.
You can check out all of North East Londoner’s local election content here.
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