Newham needs a
safe, connected cycle network!
Finishing just four key cycle routes would help make cycling in our borough safe everywhere, and fun for everyone.
Tell the next Mayor of Newham you want streets for cycling today
Every child should be able to cycle to school. Every family should be able to cycle to their local park, or their local pool. Everyone should be able to cycle to the shops on the high street. To work? Football practice? Library? Friday prayers? Coffee date? No matter where, when, or who, cycling should be safe and fun.
This is already a reality for our neighbours! Just a few miles away, residents of Waltham Forest have a safe, connected cycle network. They can cycle almost any journey they like, and enjoy a journey that’s comfortable, direct, and drama-free.
We can have this in Newham too! That’s why we’re asking all the candidates for Mayor of Newham to commit to building a safe, connected cycle network if elected on 7 May. Take action today and ask our next Mayor—whoever they may be—to pledge to Streets for Cycling!
Finish the Four to make cycling safe and fun for everyone
Achieving a Newham where cycling is safe everywhere is simple: you build a safe, connected cycle network, with a mix of low-traffic streets and protected space for cycling on main roads. Do that, and you make cycling for anyone and everyone.
Newham’s next Mayor has the power to make this happen. And the funding is there—Transport for London will pay for it! So we’re keeping it simple this election season, and asking candidates for Mayor of Newham to complete the core cycling network TfL has identified for Newham by 2030.
Just 4 key routes would create a grid-shaped network in our borough:
- Stratford to Ilford, providing a direct, 24/7 route for students at UEL and for the businesses in Little Ilford, and fixing a run of dangerous junctions
- Leyton to Silvertown, finally providing a safe alternative to the closed Greenway— giving NHS staff back their safe journey to Newham Hospital
- Canning Town to Barking, serving thousands of school students and connecting Green Street and East Ham to London’s cycle network for the first time
- Manor Park to the Woolwich Ferry, connecting Wanstead Flats with High Street North, the big ASDA at Beckton, and Gallions Reach for UEL’s Docklands campus
Finishing the four key cycle routes would revolutionise how Newham gets around. More people—particularly women, children, elderly people, and Disabled people—will feel comfortable to ride from A to B on a safe, connected cycle network. Making everyday journeys joyful; eliminating the hassle of sitting in traffic or circling for a car parking space; and putting money back in people’s pockets that they can then spend at local businesses. Everyone wins if Newham gets a safe, connected cycle network.
Click the button, enter your postcode, and email the candidates for Mayor to ask them to commit. It only takes a minute!
Candidate Statements
As of 18/04/26 the following Mayoral candidate(s) have pledged to build a safe cycle network (listed in the order they pledged):
Areeq Chowdhury – Green Party (pledged)
The Newham Green Party’s manifesto, published Thursday 16th April, commits to:
Build a safe, connected cycle network in Newham. With the aim of ensuring residents can cycle safely to their school, local high street, and local park, we will seek to finish four key cycle routes across Newham. These routes will be Stratford to Ilford, via Forest Gate; Leyton to Silvertown, via Plaistow; Canning Town to Barking, via East Ham; and Manor Park to North Woolwich, via East Ham. In addition, we will explore the expansion of the bikeability scheme.
Laura Willoughby – Liberal Democrats (pledged)
I pledge for more Streets For Cycling and better and safer cycle routes across Newham.
Yet to Pledge
As of the last update to this page, these candidates have not yet decided to pledge (listed in alphabetical order):
- Terri Bloore (the Conservative Party candidate)
- Clive Furness (Reform UK)
- Forhad Hussain (Labour Party)
- Kamran Malik (Communities United Party)
- Mehmood Mirza (Newham Independents)
- Bharath Swamy (Christian Peoples Alliance)
About the campaign
We have written to all the Mayoral candidates who have declared they’re running, offering to meet with them to talk about our request to build a safe, connected cycle network. On 25/03/26 we wrote to all the candidates declared at that point, with an information pack about what a safe cycle network would look like, and asking them to pledge. Where direct contact details were not available on whocanivotefor.co.uk, we have sought to contact them via their local party secretary or election agent.
As candidates pledge to build a safe connected cycle network, we will update this page—our campaigning partners at the London Cycling Campaign will do the same at this page.
The last update to this page was on 18/04/2026.
Political neutrality
Newham Cyclists, as part of the London Cycling Campaign, is politically neutral and independent. As part of a registered charity, we don’t (and legally can’t) tell you who to vote for. But we can encourage candidates to support pro-cycling policies, and we can report on candidates’ policies and allow you to make up your own mind.
We have endeavoured to contact every candidate who has declared their candidacy and who is listed on whocanivotefor.co.uk. We are within our rights not to seek a view from minor or “fringe” parties which advocate for policies opposed to Newham Cyclists’ or LCC’s objectives and values. For instance, we would decline to engage with candidates or parties that espouse views that are clearly racist, or peddle conspiracy theories.