More by-elections to take place after 3 Labor councilors resign from Newham Council

An east London borough is set to host three more by-elections after the resignation of three Labor councillors. The recent departures of James Asser, Ken Penton and Sasha Das Gupta mean their former seats in Beckton, Maryland and Forest Gate North are all up for grabs.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that the Maryland and Forest Gate North by-elections will be held on Thursday, July 4, which is the same day as the general election. The Beckton by-election is also likely to fall on July 4. On Thursday evening (May 30), Mr Asser was announced as Labour’s candidate for the West Ham and Beckton constituency, having been a Newham councilor for the past six years.

It is currently unclear why Mr Penton (formerly Maryland ward) and Ms Das Gupta (formerly Forest Gate North ward) have decided to step down from their roles as Newham councillors. LDRS has contacted London Labor for comment on the resignation of Mr Penton and Ms Das Gupta.

READ MORE: Beckton by-election ‘will fall on same day’ as general election as former deputy mayor names West Ham

Three by-elections in 2023 saw Labor retain just one seat in three after Newham Independents’ Sophia Naqvi and Mehmood Mirza were selected for Plaistow North ward and Boleyn ward. The Wall End ward was the only seat to be held by Labor after Stephanie Garfield was selected.

Last year Zuber Gulamussen from the borough of Plashet resigned from the Labor Party and joined Cllr Naqvi and Cllr Mirza as part of the Newham Independents after feeling “horribly” upset by the party’s stance on Gaza and its leader Keir Starmer’s decision not to support requests for a ceasefire.

This means that Labor no longer holds every seat in the borough, as it did in the 2010, 2014 and 2018 local elections. The borough now has six opposition councillors, two Green Party councilors and four independents.

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