Rokhsana Fiaz has become the first directly elected woman mayor in London.
Fiaz, who has been a councillor for Custom House since 2014, won with 53,214 votes – 73.4 per cent. 35.84 per cent of Newham turned out to vote.
She said: “Wow. It’s mind-blowing. It says to me two things about Newham – one, the amount of trust and hope they have in the Labour Party, and the fact that we have been accelerating over the last couple of years since Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
“Eight years of devestation by Tory cuts is showing with wins like this. I think it reflects the confidence of the people in Labour’s ability to lead a council in the face of these cuts.”
As Newham’s Mayor Fiaz has pledged to fight for better homes, better jobs, better health and job outcomes for all residents.
On her website she says: “My priority is housing. Many of us can’t afford to buy or rent a home, face homelessness or need to leave Newham. My plans will offer our people genuinely affordable social rent homes; access to training and jobs and a safe, clean and healthy environment to live and raise their families in.
“I want our residents to have a real stake in our borough’s future, be at the heart of everything we do. It’s time for a fresh approach for people in Newham; time for Labour in Newham to show the difference we can make to people’s lives; and time to make Newham the best possible place for everyone to stay, succeed and thrive.”
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Meanwhile, in neighbouring Tower Hamlets Labour’s John Biggs romped home in a landslide victory to be returned as mayor for his second term with almost 73 per cent of the vote.
The new Aspire party put up former deputy mayor Ohid Ahmed but voters gave Aspire just 14 per cent of the vote and put Ahmed in third place, knocking him out of the race at the first stage.
He was outpaced by Rabina Khan and her rival People’s Alliance party, who came second with 17pc preference votes.
