General election 2024: Everything you need to know about who’s standing in Tower Hamlets

On May 22, Rishi Sunak surprised the nation – and even many Conservative MPs and cabinet ministers – by announcing a general election for Thursday 4 July.

This year, many of us will be voting in unfamiliar territory. Changes to constituency boundaries mean that 90% have been redrawn in the UK. In Tower Hamlets, you might find the name of your constituency has changed since the 2019 election.

In 2019, there were two parliamentary constituencies in our borough: Poplar and Limehouse, and Bethnal Green and Bow. In July’s election, there will be three: Poplar and Limehouse, Bethnal Green and Stepney, and Stratford and Bow.

Before parliament dissolved on 30 May in the lead up to the election, our borough had two MPs: Labour’s Apsana Begum, representing Poplar and Limehouse, and Rushanara Ali, also Labour, representing Bethnal Green and Stepney. This year, a third MP in our borough will be voted in.

Sixty-nine percent of our readers responded to an Instagram poll saying they could confidently name their local MP in Tower Hamlets, but do you know the candidates running against them?

While many politicians have already announced that they’ll be running, parties still have until the June 7 deadline to nominate candidates. So who will you be able to vote for in Tower Hamlets on July 4?

So far, we know of seven candidates who have said they’ll run to become MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney, though this is subject to change in the next few days as parties finalise their decisions. Since November 2023, Labour’s candidate, Ali, has been under fire from pro-Palestine activists for her decision to back Keir Starmer and not vote for a Gaza ceasefire in parliament.

The other hopefuls competing against Ali include Independent candidates Ajmal Masroor, Sham Uddin, Md Somon Ahmed and Reggie Adams; Liberal Democrat candidate Rabina Khan; Social Democrat Party Jonathon Mabbutt; Reform UK candidate Peter Sceats; Conservative candidate Oscar Reaney; Green Party candidate Phoebe Gill; and Animal Welfare Party Vanessa Hudson.

In the new constituency of Stratford and Bow, 10 candidates have announced they’ll be fighting for the seat, including Labour candidate Uma Kumaran; Conservative candidate Kane Blackwell; Green Party candidate Joe Hudson-Small; Workers Party of Britain candidate Halima Khan; Independent candidates Fiona Lali, Nizam Ali, Omar Faruk and Steve Hedley; Liberal Democrat candidate Janey Little; and Reform UK candidate Jeff Evans.

Labour’s Begum will be campaigning to keep her seat in Poplar and Limehouse, but she’s up against seven other candidates, including Nathalie Bienfait for the Green Party; Richard Flowers for the Liberal Democrats; Tony Glover for Reform UK; Kamran Khan for the Workers Party of Britain; Manny Lawal for the Social Democratic Party, Freddie Downing for the Conservatives; and Independent candidate Ehtashamul Haque.

With under two weeks for last-minute candidates to be put forward, the Conservative Party still needs to find over 150 candidates to fill vacancies in the UK after a record number stood down. Labour will announce its full list of endorsed candidates at a meeting of the National Executive Committee on Tuesday 4 June.

We expect new candidates from several parties to announce they are running in Tower Hamlets and we will update this article as and when this happens. 

Anyone on the electoral register aged 18 or over on election day can vote at a local polling station, between 7 am and 10 pm. To be eligible to vote, you must be a British citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen or a Republic of Ireland citizen with a UK address. 

On the day, you must show a valid form of photo ID. There are 22 acceptable forms of ID, such as passports, driving licences, Older or Disabled Person’s bus passes, and Oyster 60+ cards. 

If you don’t have any valid form of photo ID, apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate before the deadline at 5 pm on Wednesday 26 June.

If you are registered to vote but know you will be outside the UK on polling day, you can apply for a postal vote. The deadline for applying for a postal vote is 5pm on Wednesday 19 June.

You can also apply for a proxy vote, allowing someone else to vote on your behalf. If you applied for a proxy vote before 31 October 2023, you will need to re-apply before 5pm on Wednesday 26 June.

From now until the election, Roman Road LDN, Poplar LDN, Whitechapel LDN, and Bethnal Green LDN will be the home of independent political coverage in Tower Hamlets.

In a stunt to kickoff the Liberal Democrat’s election campaign, Ed Davey, the party’s leader, was caught on camera falling into Lake Windermere three times while paddleboarding. Can we expect the same from our East End candidates? We’ll keep you in the loop with their attempts to gain publicity, as well as hustings, walkabouts and doorknocking.

To receive weekly updates about the candidates fighting to represent your area, subscribe to our free newsletter, The Slice Tower Hamlets. 

This article was updated on 10/06/2024

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