Mehmood Mirza is Independent Councillor for Boleyn Branch. Mehmood Mirza has surprised many by winning Thursday’s by-election in Boleyn ward. But who is he, and what does he stand for?

He has described his occupation variously as a legal adviser, a campaigner and a human rights activist, but he is also a significant private landlord. He currently owns ten properties in the borough, which will make him – since the departure of Ayesha Chowdhury from the council last year – the most propertied Newham councillor-landlord.

As part of a group calling itself Democracy Newham, Mirza was a driving force behind the ‘people’s petition’ – the collection in 2020 of over 12,000 signatures needed to force a governance referendum on Newham Council. The petition was rendered invalid due to the pandemic-related suspension of electoral legislation, but the council had in any case committed to hold a referendum before the end of Rokhsana Fiaz’s first term of office.

On the announcement that the referendum would be held in May 2021 and that the choice on the ballot would be between the existing mayoral system and the committee system, Democracy Newham sued the council, arguing that the choice should be between the mayoral system and the cabinet system. Their legal action was unsuccessful, and the council made a counter claim against Democracy Newham for breaching the embargo on the judge’s original decision.

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