Upcoming hustings: which candidate will truly stand up for Queen’s Market?

Do candidates mean what they say, or is the real story unfolding behind closed doors?

After more than twenty years of campaigning, our community street market is still sadly under threat. Friends of Queen’s Market have always depended on community strength and the goodwill of local residents, traders, and shoppers – and once again, we find ourselves at that familiar point in the political cycle.

Recent interviews with the main political parties suggest plans to demolish the market building. This would impact thousands of families who rely on it for affordable fresh food and as an important social space. Meanwhile, councillors based in more affluent parts of Newham seem disconnected from the realities of the cost-of-living crisis, all while being funded by the public. It raises an important question: who is holding them accountable, and are they truly serving the community?

You can watch the recent REVIVE FM Newham Mayoral Elections recording below [Queen’s Market is mentioned 1:07:50 onwards]:

Newham Council Elections – Community Hustings

Hear from the prospective candidates on the following dates (in-person gathering)

Tuesday 28th April 2026 at 6.30pm
Held at: Clapton Community Football Club, The Old Spotted Dog Ground, Walter Tull Way, 212 Upton Lane, London E7 9NP (Nearest stations: Forest Gate, Upton Park)

Saturday 2nd May 2026 at 4pm
Held at: Tate Institute, 1 Wythes Rd, London E16 2DN (Nearest station: London City Airport)
Sign up to attend here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/newham-mayoral-community-hustings-tickets-1987663387699
Stalls and activities from 2pm. Hustings start 4pm. Finish 6:30pm. Food and kids activities provided

_{Groups involved: London Renters Union, The Magpie Project, Newham Muslim Forum, Respace, PEACH, The Women in Newham Network, Newham Trades Council, Save Newham Libraries, Born Everywhere Made in Newham, Friends of Queen’s Market and Newham Poetry Group and more TBA}

FACTS about Newham show why residents need the market!

– The poverty rate is one of the highest in London: the market helps alleviate poverty.

– 45% of children are in families with below 60% of the average income: Queen’s Market provides for hungry families.

– More households in temporary accommodation than most other boroughs (59 per 1000): vulnerable families need to eat, so come to shop at Queen’s Market.

– Unemployment higher than average: the market provides jobs to heads of families, and for women too.

– Life expectancy is lower than average: Queen’s Market provides access to fresh affordable culturally-appropriate food

Some Candidates are talking about ‘developing the market’. FACTS ALSO SHOW that property developers will not protect or safeguard the market for the future. Their business is PROFIT for themselves, not the wellbeing of Newham’s residents. Developers already own land all over Newham.

WE NEED A MAYOR AND COUNCILLORS WHO will commit to PROTECTING the Market and what it is here for – no gentrification, no pushing local people and businesses out.

Position of political parties

LABOUR – The Labour Council under Mayor Fiaz has not looked after the market or managed it well. Even with a £7 million grant, promises were not kept and the money has been spent very badly. The Council’s Local Plan puts tall buildings on the site – our market would not survive that.

NEWHAM INDEPENDENTS – Councillors Mehmood Mirza (Boleyn ward) and Sophia Naqvi (Plaistow North ward) have consistently supported Queen’s Market.

GREEN PARTY – Councillors Danny Keeling and Nate Higgins have supported Queen’s Market. Zoe Garbett (Green member in the London Assembly) has supported the market.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS – Good ideas on democracy but their plans are uncertain.

CONSERVATIVE, REFORM – Regarding the market, their polices would most likely benefit developers, not residents.

FRIENDS OF QUEEN’S MARKET SAYS: “LABOUR HAS NOT LISTENED TO THE PEOPLE. LABOUR HAS IGNORED OUR NEEDS. THE COUNCIL MUST HAVE MORE VOICES AND BE MORE DEMOCRATIC. WE NEED A CHANGE.”

You couldn’t make it up!

What’s perhaps most concerning is that Newham’s former Labour mayor – often labelled by critics as overly controlling – has now aligned himself with the ‘far-right’ Reform UK party. Yes, that’s right, “Sir” Robin Wales (robbin’ us dry!), alongside Councillor Clive Furness, who is standing as the Reform mayoral candidate. Wales held power in Newham for 23 years, first as Leader of the Council from 1995 to 2002, and then as the directly elected Mayor from 2002 to 2018, until his deselection in March 2018. His ego clearly has the better of him, and he’s back under another ‘dodgy’ outfit. Many residents feel that the current challenges facing Newham are closely tied to decisions made during his leadership, with some of his former allies now seeking to return to positions of power.

Disturbing divisive politics from the far-right “weasels”: (Left-right) Clive Furness, “Sir” Robin Wales, and slippery national figure Nigel Farage, whose surname suggests his ancestry is foreign, but he does not want other hard-working people to call London, England or the United Kingdom home… seriously?!

“There is something rotten at the core of the main party politics inside of Newham. These people who have joined a ‘far-right’ political party while when in power (under Labour) ate greedily from the public pocket – from our collective taxes. It’s shocking that they feel they can get away with this kind of behaviour”, says Abdullah Isaiah born and bred East Londoner.

Pulling the wool over your eyes

Over the past few years, what we’ve observed in Newham is a pattern of superficial engagement – consultations and listening exercises that appear to invite collaboration, but in reality fall short of genuine co-creation. Instead of meaningful involvement, the process gives only the impression of participation while delivering the opposite. This is an illusion of democracy.

We ask people to walk around the post-2012 Olympic site and see for themselves – after 14 years, where are the homes local people can actually afford on the Olympics site? Where are the genuinely affordable shops? How much public money and investment is really reaching the community? Because from where we stand, those benefits are nowhere to be seen.

_{Image (above): “Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes” is an idiom that means do not let someone trick, deceive, or hoodwink you. It advises someone to be cautious, pay attention, and not allow others to manipulate them or hide the truth.}

FoQM say: when you go to vote, choose people power and change that truly protects our community and public spaces that hold the community together, like Queen’s Market.

Newham is London’s most diverse borough, and this moment will help determine whether the next generation can afford to stay – whether they can access homes promised as part of the post-Olympics legacy, and meet the everyday costs of living.

Queen’s Market celebrates diversity, unity and anti-racism, and has become a real litmus test for prospective candidates towards understanding Newham’s citizens: if they can’t commit to protecting it, what exactly are they standing for?

_{Image (above): FoQM remind you to bring along your photo ID when voting in-person.}

£7.3 million wasted – no new roof, no new floor, yet shortlisted for The Pineapples Award?

Contradictions and ‘gravy train’ style politics continue to plague Newham Council and their ‘chosen’ corporate partners.

This time it’s JA Projects, one of the architects involved in the Queen’s Market scheme, who has been shortlisted for The Pineapples Award. The awards claim to “celebrate the very best in placemaking and place-led initiatives”, yet it sounds to us like a whole lot of cover up –it’s the community that make a place, not the overnight fly-by consultant!

Traders say that throughout the most recent consultation process they repeatedly made one simple request – a new roof and new flooring. Once again, that request was wilfully ignored by the architects, the Council, and public officers – a familiar nexus of “no-sayers”. Instead, Newham’s residents were left with cosmetic nonsense: a multi-coloured painted corner, pigeon-netting that pigeons still get through, lighting that continues to fail, and a wooden-and-tin shack costing a staggering £1 million – decoration without substance.

_{Image above: “Riding on the gravy train” means securing a job, project, or situation that provides substantial financial reward for very little effort or work. It refers to an easy, often long-term, way to make money or earn excessive, sometimes undeserved, profits. [Source: the-terrier.com.au]}

Traders describe being left in the dark during the so-called “co-create” process, with minimal updates and little meaningful engagement from JA Projects. Fast-forward through a year of disruption and upheaval, and very little has actually changed. The process was not co-created – not even close.

“The roof still leaks because the pipes get overburdened. We’ve got ASB spilling over from Stratford – drugs, crack, you name it. And when the money finally came, it was wasted. Decisions are being made behind closed doors, and Newham is being looted. We’ve had enough,” said one local shopper and registered voter.

These ‘starchitect’ types were being celebrated a decade or so ago, when marketing spin took over the profession and strangled honest discussion about how architecture and regeneration actually affect people. Instead of talking about collective development, everything was handed on a golden platter to private developers. That disturbing trend has only deepened – especially now. Recently, the Mayor of London’s office allowed developers even more discounts, adding to the woes of harding-working families – read article ‘Affordable housing quota for London falls to 20%’ [BBC, 10/2025] : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdrzgxj37d5o It’s worth noting that the Pineapples Awards are run by The Developer media company (in partnership with the Design Council) – We ask, is this really how the gravy train should be rolling in one of London’s most deprived boroughs?

We found it nauseating, but you can watch Jayden Ali of JA Projects present on Queen’s Market here:

At one point during the Queen’s Market consultation process there were eleven consultations running simultaneously — enough to confuse anyone. Yet Newham Council continues to claim it has successfully engaged local people. No amount of spin or marketing fluff will make that true.

_{Image (above): Are you confused, because so are we!}

Newham is now proudly celebrating five shortlisted Pineapples Award projects, even publishing a self-congratulatory article about it.

Read the article here: https://www.newham.gov.uk/news/article/1529/five-newham-projects-shortlisted-for-prestigious-2026-pineapple-awards

Inside the Council, the Director of Community Wealth Building has recently been rebranded as Director of Place-Making, covering regeneration, planning, housing delivery, and economic strategy. Career juggling within Newham is nothing new – remember the last CEO, paid off… How much was that again?

Meanwhile, the regeneration of the Carpenters Estate in Stratford has already ballooned to an estimated £1.42 billion in borrowing — a £320 million jump from earlier estimates of £1.1 billion. So who’s been eating all the pineapples there?

Shout out to our friends at Focus E15 Mothers who were pushed out of Carpenters Estate to make way for Council’s gentrification/ social cleansing projects : https://focuse15.org/about/

This is a Council that promises mountains and delivers molehills – padded out with weasel words, and then slams the door shut on local people.

It’s election year, and Friends of Queen’s Market remains proudly non-political. We welcome everyone with all their different political (and non-political) leanings, including the councillors who still shop at Queen’s Market. But the same tired rhetoric keeps coming back from candidates: free bin collections (easily solved), ASB, systemic created poverty, the usual blah blah. Families in Newham are struggling to put food on their tables, and these private consultants like JA Projects are being paid without question.

Small traders are barely surviving. Yet public officers are busy marketing wealth extraction as success.

Recently, Zoë Garbett from the Green Party GLA team visited the market and filmed short interviews with traders and shoppers – see below: https://www.tiktok.com/@zoe.garbett/video/7567082849220791574?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

We ask a simple question of prospective candidates: have you actually stepped into the market and shopped here? Because much of Newham does shop here.

Newham has endured years of corporatised, securitised gentrification with no trickle-down – just a “pi$$-down”, as one campaigner aptly put it.

^{Image (above): “Don’t pi$$ down my back and tell me it’s raining” is an idiom that means do not lie or try to deceive someone while pretending to do them a favour [Source: Urban Dictionary]}

Incidentally, pineapple season at Queen’s Market is usually March to July. Come down to the market and grab one – if only for a laugh and a natter. Or perhaps by the time the May 2026 election comes around, things in Newham might finally change – hopefully for the better.

Traders furious at being ‘left in the dark’ over new lights that fail to deliver

^{Photo (above): In July FoQM and the Traders Union led a demonstration to highlight the ineptitude by Newham Council and it’s ‘well-paid’ private consultant firms.}

Sorry to say “we told you so”, but Newham Council have make a mockery of the public funds meant to help restore Queen’s Market. Over the last few years we have been keeping a close eye on the £7.3million of public funds secured under the Mayor of London, Greater London Authority’s (GLA) ‘Good Growth Fund’, Levelling Up Fund and from Newham Council’s own funds, but sadly there’s little good about it when the funds are in ‘dodgy’ hands.

Friends of Queen’s Market and the Traders Union have put pressure on the Council to explain themselves: they say they will be investigating why the new lights by private consultants have failed to deliver adequate lighting into the market and possibly even poses a public safety risk. Yet, more officer time is being spent on their self-made mess, and some officers are on annual leave during these summer months, which means further delays for the traders!

^{Image (above): sums up any investigation by Newham Council.}

The pigeons have come home to roost

The PIGEON NETTING, meant to stop pigeon has consistently failed to keep pigeons from making home in the inner roof structure, and now the LIGHTING has failed to light up the market! Both cost a whopping £731,000 – that’s for some basic pigeon netting and new lights. This was after the Council spent £116,530 on just removing the pigeon netting. Kerching – looks like a whole bunch of people making a lot of easy money behind the scenes!

400 lights were removed from the market and replaced with just 99 lights. These new lights were suppose to be much brighter and better, but the lighting does not reach the market stalls on the ground.

**New lighting fails to light up walkways**

^{Photos (above): On the left, shows how the new lighting does not even light up the central walkways, and on the right how traders are forced to use their own flood lights to showcase their goods. Thankfully it’s summer and the light wells on the roof help bring some natural light inside, but come winter, it will be a different story say traders and shoppers.}

“It’s a disgrace” says a local shopper “we were led to believe that the £millions will be spent on a much-needed new floor and roof, but it’s just all cheap decorations with no substance – sums up the Council well, I guess.”

“My customers can’t even see what they are buying under these new lights, so I’ve got no choice but to use my flood lights to light up my stall”, saying one trader who sells fashion accessories.

Naveed Choudhary, Chairman of the Traders Union at the market says:” The Council is saying because it’s darker, it will lead drug users away but it’s the opposite way. When it’s bright, less pickpockets and crimes are committed here, because the drugs users will be scared to come inside… they [the Council] are not listening to us.”

The Good Growth funds were suppose to “cocreate” improvements to the market – another waste of public money – where Newham Council created a ‘Newham co-create’ website for £3.1million that many local people do not access, and is accused of being prejudiced towards many local people who are not digital savvy and cannot understand the jargon.

The amount of funds being wasted by Newham Council from the Good Growth Fund is STAGGERING – see the breakdown below:

Have you shone the light onto the finances at Newham Council?
The latest lighting saga is just the tip of the iceberg, of what’s been decades of systemic incompetence and inertia inside Newham Council. Who knows what you find in your investigation…