The Newham Independents Party is fielding a full slate of 66 candidates for council as well as backing their leader, Cllr Mehmood Mirza, for mayor.
But not all of their candidates live in the borough.
- Zulfiqar Ahmed, standing in Canning Town North, lives in Waltham Forest
- Syed Rafiz Hayder, standing in Canning Town South, also gives an address in Waltham Forest
- Sabrin Ara Hoque, candidate in Forest Gate South, lives in Redbridge
- MD Maksudul Haque, standing in Stratford, lives in Enfield
- Attia Bano, standing in West Ham, gives an address in Barking and Dagenham
There is nothing illegal or improper about this, of course. To stand as a local councillor in England, you must be registered to vote or have lived, worked, or owned property in the area for at least 12 months before the election. I don’t know which of the non-resident qualifications each of these has used to justify their place on the ballot, but owning property here would be consistent with the party’s pro-landlord policy platform.
In the spirit of fairness, I should point out there are other non-Newham candidates in this election:
- Muhammad Asim, independent candidate for Forest Gate South, lives in Ilford
- Jazmine Whomes, a Liberal Democrat standing in Forest Gate South, has an address in Redbridge
- Shazia Anjum, independent candidate for Plaistow South, also lives in Redbridge
- Bradley James Fage, the “Local Conservative” in Royal Victoria lives in Wandsworth
- George Wright, the other “Local Conservative” in Royal Victoria lives in Lewisham
- Lucerne Sainclair, independent candidate for Stratford, lives in Ealing
While it’s quite funny that a party branding itself as Newham’s local voice should be standing non-resident candidates, it is absolutely hilarious that the “Local Conservatives” are doing it too.
forestgatedotnet 
how do we know whether the do have rights to stand in the election or not?
The candidate has to state on the nomination form the basis on which they are qualified (resident, place of work, property owner) and provide the address.
how do we find out what they have stated
I’m not sure you can. But you could try writing to the Electoral Services team and asking.
nomination forms can be found online after the election if the candidate is successful. This is nothing new and has been going on at all levels of elections throughout the country for as long as I can remember. The number of candidates in the Newham election is staggering – I would guess the most ever.