Newham Greens were accused of “standing hand-in-hand” with Labour over a “deal” to divvy up leading roles on Newham Council last night (Wednesday 20 May).
Councillors were voting to elect committee chairs at their first full meeting after the local elections, but Newham Independents party – the largest opposition group – accused the Greens of “standing for the status quo” as they voted to install Labour party councillors in some prominent positions.
Newham Independents leader Mehmood Mirza said control of the council chamber had been “sold” in “last-minute dodgy deals”.
However, the Greens say they voted to “share power” among political groups and “ensure all members are heard”.
The local elections in Newham this month ended with a new Labour mayor, Forhad Hussain, but with no party having a majority of councillors.
Labour still have the largest number of councillors, at 26. However, they are outnumbered by the Newham Independents and the Green party, who have 24 and 16 councillors respectively.
This means that although Hossain is leader of the authority, with Labour councillors on his leading cabinet committee, his party will need support from at least eight opposition members to win votes at full council meetings.
Cllr Mirza told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that he and the Green party had agreed to vote together to elect one of his members as chair of the council and a Green as deputy chair.
He also said they had agreed to block Labour from chairing any council committees. However, the Greens and Labour voted to elect Green party councillor Nate Higgins as council chair, and Labour councillor Rohit Dasgupta as deputy.
Cllr Mirza told the meeting that the “mandate of the residents has been sold”.
He said: “The Labour party has been rejected by the residents, giving a clear mandate to the opposition. Two opposition parties have the largest share of votes in these elections.
“I thought the Green party were going to stand for change. It’s clear they are standing for the status quo.”
As newly-elected council chair Cllr Higgins said it was important that all councillors “be heard”.
“It’s something that I really care about before any political group, any political party – Labour, Newham Independents, Green, independent – it’s really important to me that everybody here gets their chance to be heard.”
Cllr Higgins and Cllr Dasgupta were both elected with 40 votes in favour and 23 against, with Greens and Labour voting for them and the Newham Independents opposing.
Newham Independents also criticised an agreement over how committee chairs should be shared among political parties, although they voted to accept it.
Councillors voted provisionally for the Newham Independents to chair six committees. These include the influential overview and scrutiny committee, which challenges the council’s work.
The Greens are to chair three committees, including the pensions committee. The party said it would use this to push for “ethical” investments of funds.
Labour party councillors will chair two committees, including the strategic development committee, which considers major planning applications.
Green party group leader Danny Keeling told the meeting that “Mehmood Mirza’s group need to realise who won the election – it was that mayor there,” pointing to Hussain.
He added: “Democracy plays its point and proportionality has been dealt.
“We did the deal for the people of Newham, not you.”
Labour councillor and deputy mayor John Gray said Hussain had “put the hand of friendship out to the Independent group and to the Greens”.
He said: “However, the fact of the matter is that the Independent group did not wish to work with the mayor for the betterment of Newham and our residents.”
Hussain appointed four Labour party members to his cabinet – councillors Gray, Susan Masters, Zulfiqar Ali and Lakmini Shah. He said he would add more in the coming months.
Cllr Keeling told the LDRS that the Green party is “definitely not in coalition” with Labour.
