Keralite community in Newham unhappy with Labour Party for not retaining two of its sitting councillors

Councillor Sugathan Thekkepurayil of East Ham Central and Councillor Omana Gangadharan from Wall End ward 

By A Staff Reporter

NEWHAM March 30: Labour Party in Newham has ignored two sitting Malayalee councillors in the next local government and Mayoral elections which is scheduled to take place on 5th May 2022, according to the list of probable candidates released by Labour Party.

The list of probable Labour Party candidates for the May elections, seen by this website, has also ignored several other prominent public figures from the south Indian community who have played a very active role in Labour Party politics in Newham in the last decade.

Councillor Omana Gangadharan from Wall End ward and Councillor Sugathan Thekkepurayil of East Ham Central are the two Malayalee councillors who are not listed in the new list of Labour Party candidates for the council elections to take place on 5th May 2022.

Former Labour Councillor Jose Alexander too is not featured in the new list of candidates.

There is also no representation from the Tamil community as former Councillor Paul Sathyanesan is also not featured in the new list.

In general the south Indian community has been avoided totally.

It is to be noted that the south Indian community, in particular, the Kerala community, are a force to reckon with when it comes to swaying votes.

“The news is good as it has been some time Keralites started voting for Conservative or Liberal Democrats,” said a community leader.

The news comes as a shock to the Keralite community in the UK as it has a considerable number of the Malayalee community members living in the borough. The Malayalee community is not just are active economic contributant to Newham as the community organisations here play an active role in the social welfare of the residents.

The Malayalee community has been in the forefront during the Covid pandemic to open up food banks and many of the community members risked their lives to serve the community at a very difficult time. The news that its community representatives are overlooked hasnt gone well within the community who has a considerable vote bank.

Speaking to this website, a commmunity leader was shocked to hear that the two Malayalee representatives are not retained to contest for the May elections. “It is a shame that those in power were not able to ensure that there was true representation of our community”.

It is learnt that the community will be reassessing the present scenario and an alternative will be found so that their community is represented in the democratic decision making process in the borough.

The 2022 Newham London Borough Council election is due to take place on 5 May 2022. All 66 members of Newham London Borough Council will be elected. The elections will take place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.

In the previous election in 2018, the Labour Party maintained its control of the council, winning all 60 seats. The 2022 election will take place under new election boundaries, which will increase the number of councillors to 66. The election will coincide with an election for the mayor of Newham after a governance referendum resulted in the borough keeping a directly elected mayor.

Newham has been under Labour control since its creation, besides a period of no overall control from 1968–1971. In the most recent election in 2018, Labour won all sixty seats with 67.2% of the vote across the borough. The Conservative Party received 15.2% of the vote, the Liberal Democrats received 5.9% of the vote and the Green Party of England and Wales received 5.2% of the vote but none of these won any seats. The Labour candidate Rokhsana Fiaz became mayor of Newham in the concurrent mayoral election, succeeding Robin Wales with 73.4% of the vote in the first round.

The thirty-two London boroughs were established in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. They are the principal authorities in Greater London and have responsibilities including education, housing, planning, highways, social services, libraries, recreation, waste, environmental health and revenue collection. Some of the powers are shared with the Greater London Authority, which also manages passenger transport, police and fire.