Labour easily held its seat in the East Ham Central by-election, with Farah Nazeer returning to the council after an absence of three years. Cllr Nazeer previously represented Little Ilford ward from 2010 to 2018.
The results:
Farah Nazeer – Labour & Co-op – 2,297 (53%)
SK Zakir Hossain – Conservative – 1,288 (30%)
Danny Keeling – Greens – 283 (7%)
Ed Comaromi – Lib Dems – 239 (6%)
Paul M Jobson – Christian PA – 115 (3%)
Lois Austin – TUSC – 91 (2%)
Turnout: 42.6%
Although Labour’s vote was somewhat down from the 2018 election – despite a higher overall turnout and a wider choice of candidates on the ballot – the party still garnered more than 50% of the vote.
The Conservatives did very well, growing their vote from 509 to 1,288 – a whopping 150% increase. Perhaps the ‘yellow’ referendum campaign helped drive this? Their leaflets, which were distributed across large parts of East Ham, pushed policies on cars and parking charges which were indistinguishable from Shaun Bailey’s. And the local Tory candidate said he would suspend the MiPermit parking scheme. By playing to the grievances of a minority that feels it is not being listened to in the town hall, the ‘yellows’ may have pushed voters towards the party that shared the same outlook.
Neither the Greens nor Lib Dems stood in 2018 and both will probably be quite pleased with their results. The 13% they took between them might well have gone to Labour last time in the absence of any other progressive alternative. Results elsewhere last week will encourage both parties to think they have chances in 2022.
Bringing up the rear, TUSC and the Christians did about as poorly as expected.
East Ham Central is largely unaffected by the boundary changes that will be introduced next year, so Cllr Nazeer will likely be defending the same territory although the name will be a little shorter – just East Ham.
forestgatedotnet 
I wonder who’s thinking of Plaistow west now they have destroyed Canning Town North.