Labour Plaistow Super Saturday

 

Yesterday, after the West Ham litter pick, I cycled to Upton Station for the 1pm Plaistow Super Saturday campaign session. There were four different events across Plaistow that day, supported by East Ham MP Stephen Timms and West Ham & Beckton MP James Asser. 

I was assigned to a team backing local Plaistow North Councillor Zulfiqar Ali and his candidate team, Joy and Pervez, who were out with other teams. 

Zulfiqar, a well-known and active councillor, personally knew many residents and had a great rapport with them. The canvassing went really well, though there were a few tough conversations with residents who had been let down by both social and private landlords, as well as by fifteen years of Tory governments failing to provide enough social housing to meet demand. 

It’s important to be honest with those in desperate situations that change won’t happen overnight, but Labour is committed to delivering hundreds of thousands of truly affordable homes for those who feel they may never get on the housing ladder. 

One thing I heard for the first time, which made me angry, was from a resident who said corrupt letting agents and private landlords were taking money from vulnerable tenants by falsely claiming that eviction would help them get a council house—completely untrue, and in fact likely to have the opposite effect. If I find any evidence of this, (and I will be looking) I will report it to the police and other enforcement bodies. 

The weather was warm, with blue skies and sunshine, and the beautiful spring blossom made it even more enjoyable. 

Newham Labour raise over £11,000 for Medical Aid for Palestinians

 

Picture from last weeks Newham Labour fund raising event (11 December) for Medical Aid Palestinians. In a packed restaurant in Stratford, all our MPs and Labour Candidate for Mayor, Forhad Hussain, came and spoke in support. 

Our guest speaker was the Political Advisor to the Palestine Ambassador, Marwan Yaghi. His family is still in Gaza.

Many thanks to all the organisers.

Labour Conference 2025: Sunday

Conference started at 11am. I was at a UNISON delegation pre meeting at 9am were we confirmed who would speak on debates and which motions to support or oppose. First item was Conference Arrangements Committee Report, where delegates whose motions had not been accepted for debate were given the opportunity to ask for this to be reconsidered. Conference voted to accept the report.

There was also a minutes silence to remember Party members who have died during the past year. A list of names was shown on the main screens to music, which included the name of Newham Councillor, Neil Wilson. 

There was also number of good speakers including a passionate speech on the new Hillsborough Law followed by a choir singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.

There was also international speaker, Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, who gave a very thoughtful speech on how the Labour movement’s in both our countries had chosen Parliamentary democracy rather than protest to benefit working people. 

After Conference I went to be part of a panel for a fringe with Michael Shanks MP (Minister for Energy, Security & Net Zero), Bill Esterson MP (Chair of Energy, Security & Net Zero) and Tessa Khan (Uplift).  The panel was chaired by Sue Ferns (Prospect). I was there in my role as Vice Chair of Local Authority Pension Fund Forum. I will post later on this event. For some reason the photographs were all red!

Afterwards I joined friends and colleagues at the best social of conference, the Labour Friends of Bangladesh event and had a fantastic meal with one or two speeches.

 

Plaistow South By Election Day: Knocking up

Back at home after a long day campaigning. The result should be declared soon. A superb effort by our candidate Ash, our organiser Sarah and Agent Morris. Also a tribute to our local party activists, Council members, our MPs Uma, James and Stephen and help from other London boroughs. 

This is probably the most closely fought by election in recent years. Many residents are disillusioned with national politics, some local issues and the ongoing cost of living crisis. The turnout also appears to be low. It was interesting that the Tories and Reform were out campaigning and appeared to be more concerned with each other rather than competing with Labour. 

It was also great to go campaigning with our Newham Labour Mayoral Candidate for 2026, Forhad Hussain. 

UPDATE: Sadly Ash did not win on this occasion. He is probably the hardest working candidate I have ever worked with. Politics can be cruel at times. The national and local issues mentioned above overwhelmed us yesterday. He and Labour will be back. 

Newham Labour Group Social

 

Yesterday evening there was an enjoyable social event organised by Newham Labour Group at a local Turkish restaurant, "Kohinoor Grill And Thrill" in Barking Road. 

As well as speeches by local MPs James Asser and Stephen Timms, there was guest speaker Rupa Huq MP, as well as contributions from The Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, GMB Dean Gilligan and myself (London UNISON Labour Link had helped sponsor).

I was lucky (yet again) with the traditional Labour Party raffle and won a bottle of single malt Scotch donated by Cllr Neil Wilson. There was a number of other prizes including GMB Bird Boxes! 

Many thanks to my colleagues Cllr Simon Rush and Cllr Shantu Ferdous for organising this event. 

On the knocker for Labour Blossom Young in Beckton with Sir Stephen Timms MP

 

Great picture from tonight's canvass in Beckton for the the Newham Council by-election next Thursday 18 July. Sir Stephen Timms came to support Blossom. Stephen use to be the local MP before recent boundary changes. He remains the MP for East Ham and we all congratulated him on his recent appointment as a Minister of State in the new Labour Government.

What was pretty amazing is the number of residents who came out to thank Stephen personally for his help and support with their personal issues as the local MP. It shows the cynics that elections and personal representation  matter. Blossom will be an excellent Councillor and will no doubt carry out the proud tradition of personal representation typified by Stephen and James (Asser the new MP). Not forgetting the other important local by election in Little Ilford next Thursday which I will be supporting and post upon over the weekend. 

Grand (Re) Opening of The Millers Well Pub

 

Another "off message" none political, pension or trade union post. It must be Christmas! Today I was invited by former Newham Councillor D Paul Sathianesan to attend the "Grand Opening" of the "The Millers Well Pub" tomorrow at 5.30pm. 

It is being opened by the local MP for East Ham, Sir Stephen Timms. 

I posted on the demise of the Weatherspoon run "Millers" here https://www.johnslabourblog.org/2023/10/good-bye-to-east-ham-spoons.html and really pleased that it has reopened. 

I have a clash tomorrow and will not be able to make the reopening but will no doubt be visiting soon. 

Out and about for Labour in Boleyn

 

This morning after my West Ham ward Councillor surgery, I cycled over and joined Labour colleagues in Boleyn ward to deliver Direct messages to local residents. I missed the local MP, Sir Stephen Timms who had been with teams earlier but did join the Mayor, Candidate Sofia Patel and local Councillors and activists, walking up and down stairs delivering these messages. 

Most of the activity took place at the site of the Old West Ham FC stadium. The picture top right is I think where the centre of the pitch used to be.

It was pretty hot and a real treat to finish this session with ice cream! 

Newham Labour Group "Thank you" Xmas do

 

It was great to attend this very pleasant social last Saturday in Royal Docks community centre. Very pleased to win the first ticket of the raffle and get a "tea for two" at House of Commons with Sir Stephen Timms MP!