Tag Archives: Forest Gate North

Forest Gate North results

15 Jul

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Newly-elected Anamul Islam joins his fellow councillors

The results of yesterday’s by-election in Forest Gate North have been announced:

Candidate Party Votes Percent
Anamul Islam Labour Party 1150 52.5
Elisabeth Whitebread Green Party 681 31.1
John Oxley Conservatives 301 13.8
James Rumsby Liberal Democrats 57 2.6

 Turnout: 21.3%

So congratulations to Anam and commiserations to the other candidates.

To no-one’s great surprise, Labour held the seat comfortably with more than 50% of the vote. But their vote was down about 5% on the 2014 election. Interestingly, another by-election in Islington last night saw a similar decline. Perhaps even at the local level the negative consequences of the current party infighting are being felt.

Although they didn’t win, the Greens will be celebrating too. Second place and 31% of the vote is a terrific performance. They put a lot of energy into the campaign and benefited from having an excellent candidate. 

The Tories fractionally increased their vote, but remain (ha!) a very long way from being contenders in this part of the borough.

The Liberal Democrat candidate withdrew from the contest not long after nominations closed, so it was a surprise to see his name on the ballot paper yesterday. There was no advice at the polling station to let voters know either. In the end it didn’t matter much, but had his vote been greater than the gap between first and second it might have created an interesting challenge for the returning officer.

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Withdrawal symptoms

29 Jun

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The Liberal Democrat candidate for the upcoming Forest Gate North by-election has withdrawn. The party has released a statement:

We regret that Lib Dem campaigner James Rumsby has has to stand down for personal reasons and we thank him for having put himself forward to serve our community.

We are pleased that so many local residents backed the Remain cause in the recent EU referendum, and that we are welcoming new members every week.

Newham residents deserve a positive alternative to the chaos offered by the two main parties. If you agree, join us in the Lib Dems.

Mr Rumsby’s withdrawal leaves a three-way fight between Labour, the Conservatives and the Green party.

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Conservative candidate selected

20 Jun

West Ham Conservatives have selected John Oxley as their candidate for the Forest Gate North by-election.

They have issued the following statement on their website:

John has lived in Newham for four years. He is a barrister working in family law and has worked with a number of legal charities. If elected, he will work hard to address the problems caused by the council’s neglect of Forest Gate, including the poor state of the roads and fly-tipping. As the only opposition voice on Newham council, he will hold the Mayor and council to account on behalf of the whole borough.

John says “The current council are complacent, and are failing to address the day to day issues in Forest Gate. I will tackle fly-tipping, work to improve the roads and boost facilities for cyclists. A one-party council is bad for the whole borough. As a Conservative opposition, I will fight for better, more cost-effective services and an end to council waste.”

According to his biography on his law firm’s website:

Outside of work, John maintains an interest in the cultural history of Victorian England and the history of dress. He enjoys watching Yorkshire play cricket and endures supporting Sheffield Wednesday FC.

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Your by-election candidates

17 Jun

Nominations have closed and the following candidates have been officially announced:

  • Anamul Islam – Labour Party
  • John Oxley – Conservative Party
  • James Rumsby – Liberal Democrats
  • Elisabeth Whitebread – Green Party

The election will be held on Thursday 14th July 2016.

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Green candidate selected

16 Jun

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Members of Newham Green Party have selected Elisabeth Whitebread as their candidate for the Forest Gate North by-election.

She has issued the following statement:

Hi, I’m Elisabeth, and I’m the Green Party candidate for Forest Gate North. I live on Sebert Road under the Goblin line, having decided to move here when I fell in love with Wanstead Flats four years ago. Forest Gate has been my home for a relatively short time, and yet I feel more a part of the community here than I have anywhere else since I moved out of my parents’ house. I guess it’s that kind of place.

In my professional life I’m an environmental campaigner (in the above photo I’m handing in a petition against plastic microbeads to Number 10!). I’ve led successful campaigns to create marine reserves in far flung corners of the world, getting to know island communities and working with them to protect their incredible underwater life. I also helped to achieve a reversal of government proposals to water down the National Curriculum’s requirement to teach children about nature. 

My degree in psychology and my experience in environmental campaigning have given me the skills to understand how to tackle issues like flytipping, one of the most pervasive problems that this area faces. The recent decision to introduce a £20 charge to collect bulky items seems to me to be a big step in the wrong direction, and shows a real misunderstanding of local people’s circumstances. 

You might have met me when I worked at Coffee7 a couple of years ago. While talking to other people who live here, I’ve heard that many are deeply dissatisfied with the current council and Mayor. No matter what your political allegiance, it’s surely bad for democracy to have only one Party represented on our council, with no opposition to scrutinise their decisions.

In the last local elections here in 2014, the Green Party came second in Forest Gate North. If you want to send a strong message to the council, increase the democracy and accountability of the council, and elect a candidate who will listen to residents and fight hard for their concerns, then please consider voting Green on 14th July.

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