There are a plethora of independents and minor parties standing in this election, with the vast majority of these candidates running on staunchly left-wing platforms
By Marco Marcelline
A total of 31 independents and minor‑party candidates from Trade Unionist Socialist Coalition (TUSC), the Waltham Forest Independent Socialists, and Chingford & Woodford Green Community Independents are standing in this election, alongside a single candidate from the Jeremy Corbyn led Your Party.
18 TUSC candidates are standing on a platform focused on “opposing cuts, defending public services, expanding council housing and challenging private profiteering in housing and local services”.
Their slate includes trade unionists, campaigners and community activists involved in workplace disputes and anti‑eviction campaigns. They argue that workers need an alternative to mainstream parties and say they will use elected positions to “support strikes, insourcing and community‑led campaigns”.
Two candidates representing the Waltham Forest Independent Socialists are standing in Cathall. They call for more affordable council housing, stronger landlord regulation, resisting the far right, environmental protections, and full divestment from companies linked to human rights abuses.
Candidates also say they would donate their councillor allowances to community causes. Meanwhile, a new independent community group backed by the former Labour politician Faiza Shaheen is also in the picture.
Chingford & Woodford Green Community Independents (CWGCI) will stand in Larkswood and Valley wards, where the Greens are standing aside for them.
The group’s pledges include “the improvement of youth safety and local services, holding developers to account, pushing for the reopening of the Broadmead Road bridge and South Woodford Library and Gym, the development of a community plan for South Chingford, and the creation of People’s Assemblies”.
MD Shoeb Khan is the sole candidate representing Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s Your Party, and he is up for election in Hoe Street.
Your Party’s stated election platform is to “build a real alternative, a politics rooted in and accountable to communities, not billionaires and the professional political class”.
Your Party councillors, if elected, pledge to “campaign against cuts, stand up for public services and council housing, and advocate for full divestment from Israeli apartheid”.
Read our interviews with each party standing in the election and find out their manifesto by reading our May issue – find out where to pick up a copy here
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