Labour has lost overall control of Newham Council for the first time in over 50 years, despite holding on to the borough’s mayoralty.
Forhad Hussain was elected mayor at lunchtime, but by Friday afternoon, Labour had lost 30 council seats, ending the night on just 26 of the council’s 66 seats and well short of the 34 needed for a majority.
The Newham Independents Party, which did not exist three years ago, finished as Labour’s near-equals on 24 seats, a gain of 17, while the Greens stormed to 16 seats, up 13 on their previous total.
Mehmood Mirza, leader of Newham Independents, lost the mayoral race with 20,234 votes but watched his three-year-old party become the largest opposition group in the council’s history.
He said: “I was feeling very positive. I think we gave a very good fight.
“I have seen the community politics being played in the borough of Newham, but we gave a
tough fight.”
Areeq Chowdhury, the Green mayoral candidate who defected from Labour in 2024 and finished third with 18,999 votes, had predicted a tight race before the count.
He said: “This has clearly been the best competitive election in Newham’s history.”
The Greens, riding the surge of new national leader Zack Polanski, took all five seats in the Stratford and Stratford Olympic Park wards and made further gains across the borough.
Nate Higgins, leader of the Green group on Newham Council, said: “This is going to be a completely different council.
“All of our councillors are elected off the back of incredibly hard work in their communities and we’ve seen that when Greens get elected, they stay elected.
“That’s because we work so hard to make things better, to be transparent and accessible, communicate with our residents and of course to make Newham a greener, cleaner, safer place.
“I think that’s what everyone in Newham wants and that’s what’s really shown in our election
results.”
Newham Independents swept central Newham almost entirely, while Labour held its strongholds in the south of the borough.
Newham is home to some of London’s most diverse communities, with more than 220 languages spoken and the second-highest Muslim population of any local authority in the UK after neighbouring Tower Hamlets.
Newham has the highest number of households in temporary accommodation of any London
borough, making that housing a key issue in the borough.
In his acceptance speech, Hussain struck a notably humble tone.
He said: “It is the honour of my life to be elected mayor of Newham, the borough that made
me.
“Every councillor, new and old, my door will always be open. We may not always agree, but we all share a responsibility to make Newham cleaner, safer, fairer and full of opportunities.”
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