2022 Newham London Borough Council election

Result of the 2018 borough election

The thirty-two London boroughs were established in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. They are the principal authorities in Greater London and have responsibilities including education, housing, planning, highways, social services, libraries, recreation, waste, environmental health and revenue collection. Some of the powers are shared with the Greater London Authority, which also manages passenger transport, police and fire.[2]

Newham has been under Labour control since its creation, besides a period of no overall control from 1968–1971. In the most recent election in 2018, Labour won all sixty seats with 67.2% of the vote across the borough. The Conservative Party received 15.2% of the vote, the Liberal Democrats received 5.9% of the vote and the Green Party of England and Wales received 5.2% of the vote but none of these won any seats.[3][4] The Labour candidate Rokhsana Fiaz became mayor of Newham in the concurrent mayoral election, succeeding Robin Wales with 73.4% of the vote in the first round.[5]

In September 2018, Veronica Oakeshott, a Labour candidate for Boleyn ward, resigned because she was moving to Oxfordshire.[6] The by-election in November 2018 was won by Moniba Khan, the Labour candidate.[7] In August 2020, Julianne Marriot, a Labour councillor for East Ham Central, resigned for work reasons.[8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a by-election to fill her seat could not be held until 6 May 2021 alongside the 2021 London mayoral election and London Assembly election. The Labour candidate Farah Nazeer was elected, with the Conservative candidate coming in second place.[9]

In July 2020, eighteen councillors submitted a complaint to the Labour Party about the mayor Rokhsana Fiaz, claiming she treated people unfairly, humiliated them and "picked on colleagues". Two councillors also complained that she hadn't dealt with antisemitism in the local party. After she was re-selected as the Labour mayoral candidate, with the party having responded to neither complaint, Pat Murphy and Quintin Peppiatt resigned from the Labour group.[10]

As with most London boroughs, Newham will be electing its councillors under new boundaries decided by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, which it produced after a period of consulation. The number of councillors will increase from 60 to 66, under new boundaries with eighteen three-councillor wards and six two-councillor wards.[11]

A referendum was held on 6 May 2021 on whether to retain the mayoral system, where voters elect a mayor every four years, who appoints their own cabinet, or to change to the committee system, where councillors select members of committees and a council leader.[12] The result was to retain the mayoral system, with 56% of voters supporting the status quo.[13]

Newham mayoral referendum
7 October 2021

Choice	Votes	%
Elected mayor	45,960	55.8
Committee system	36,424	44.2
Total votes	85,087	100.00
Source: [13]