Vote 2026: Candidate Q&A: Nate Higgins and Joe Hudson-Small (Green)

East Village Hub put five questions to every candidate and party standing in Stratford Olympic Park ward ahead of the 1 May 2026 local elections. Only the Green Party candidates responded. Their answers are published in full below.

Nate Higgins has represented the ward since 2022. Joe Hudson-Small is the Green Party's second candidate.

1. East Village residents pay some of the highest district heating bills in London through East London Energy, a monopoly supplier. What would you do, as a councillor, to address this?

East London Energy have been given a 50 year monopoly concession over heating and hot water provision in the Olympic Park. It is beyond clear this contract is trapping residents with higher bills, poor reliability, and much worse customer service than we deserve. Our sky high bills are also not subject to the Ofgem energy price cap, and only recently subject to mandatory regulation at all.

Local Green councillors have always taken seriously our responsibility to fight for both more affordable bills and better service on behalf of residents, and we will continue to do so. This unfair contract is overseen by a Mayor of London corporation and can only be changed by agreement between Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan and the energy company. But this doesn’t mean local Green councillors are waiting to take action.

In 2022 we secured the publication of this secret contract, exposing the pricing mechanism underlying it for the first time. We used this to secure a one year freeze in prices during the Ukraine gas price surge, ensuring the company did not exercise hidden clauses to increase prices. We’ve met regularly with the company to communicate poor customer service and reliability, and the company has committed to doing better.

Now, we’re campaigning for a reduction in fixed costs within the contract – the part of your bill you pay no matter how much energy you use. This will give you control and allow us all to benefit from our well insulated homes. We met with the energy company in February and raised the issue of high fixed costs, and recently wrote to them publicly to request a formal meeting after the election to discuss this further.

Ultimately we need price regulations like the Ofgem energy price cap to come in and protect residents, and we need Mayor Khan to take action to revise this unfair contract. We’ll continue to apply pressure on this, and we won’t hesitate to escalate our concerns to Ofgem if sufficient action to protect residents is not taken.

2. Rent increases of 25–30% or more have pushed many residents out of East Village in recent years. What is your position on rent controls, and what specific action would you take on housing costs in this ward?

As renters in East Village ourselves, we know spiraling housing costs are a crisis in our community — especially for young people and young families. The Renters Rights Act will now give residents the ability to challenge disproportionate rent increases but it doesn’t go far enough.

We support rent controls to protect residents and efforts to build more housing we can actually afford to address this long term. Local councils do not have rent control powers but we have brought multiple motions to council asking the Government to support this, which Labour councillors have rejected. We have however changed council policy to formally support extending landlord licensing to cover Stratford Olympic Park but the Labour administration continues to refuse to take this forward.

We also support ending the so-called “right to buy” which has seen thousands of council homes privatised, many ending up rented out by private landlords or repurchased by the council at a significant loss, because it is fundamentally undermining the council’s role as a social landlord. It is shocking there is no council-owned housing in our ward, and we called for the council to work with the GLA to purchase the site next to Stratford station when it was sold by MSG. This would have been a great opportunity to build more council homes, but Labour failed to do so.

Green councillors have already changed council policy to require all new developments to include 50% social housing, which will need Government approval to come into place. The final plan will be voted on by the Council after the election, and is the most ambitious social housing target in the country. We know this is needed to address our waiting lists, which are the longest in London. We fundamentally believe the council must take a more active role in actually building more homes, and that the Government should enable the council to do so.

At a more local level, we would like to work with residents to support relaunching the East Village Residents Association to ensure effective representation to Get Living and Triathlon Homes on rents, service charges, and many other issues that impact residents. In the meantime we will continue to work regularly with both to hold them to account on behalf of residents.

3. Phone snatching has been a persistent issue in East Village, particularly around Victory Plaza and Honour Lea Avenue. What has worked, what hasn't, and what would you prioritise?

When local Green councillors took over from Labour, we were shocked to be informed we were the only ward in Newham without a local police ward panel – where residents can hold police to account and set local priorities for policing. We immediately worked to launch our own independently chaired Stratford Olympic Park Police Ward Panel, and have met with residents and police regularly to ensure tackling phone thefts is a priority for our local police officers.

Through this work, we have delivered undercover police operations, warning signs being installed, visits from the mobile police station, and specialist training which has led to multiple thieves being caught. We’ve seen numbers come down 40% in the last year, which is welcome but not good enough. Eliminating it entirely will take action from national Government to make stolen phones worthless – which we’re seeing starting to happen – but we can’t wait for this.

We’ve organised a petition with the ward panel to Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to reopen a local hub for Olympic Park police officers to be based out of. This is after the closure of our local police station in 2021 led to a surge in crime in our community. Local police tell us it’s what will make the difference in allowing them to respond to incidents more rapidly and to be more easily accessible to residents. We’ve asked for Newham Council to assist in making the case to reopen this hub, but the Labour administration has refused to support our petition. Nearly 2,500 residents have signed our petition but Mayor Khan is yet to respond – we’re now working through the body responsible for managing the Olympic Park to apply pressure on him to take action.

The Council is also refreshing its CCTV throughout the borough, and E20 is a focus area for improved council CCTV. We’ve also worked to improve links between East Village and local police to ensure CCTV is retained and is accessible when police need it for investigations.

4. As a ward councillor, how would you hold the council administration to account on behalf of East Village residents — and can you give a specific example of an issue where you would push back?

As local Green councillors, we already work hard to hold the Council to account and we use every lever available to us to do so – casework, council questions, motions, responses to public consultations, petitions, formal scrutiny enquiries, and media campaigns. We understand how to interact with the Olympic Park, Mayor of London and Greater London Authority, and Government Ministers where necessary to do so, and we’ve changed policy a number of times on behalf of residents.

We have already made it Council policy to make landlord licensing borough-wide in Newham by passing a unanimous Full Council motion. This would give the Council increased powers over managing antisocial behaviour and building safety, but the Council refuses to act. We have repeatedly asked questions publicly and privately, at Full Council and in committee, on why they fail to implement the motion we passed. Our motion will continue to have effect after the election, and the new Mayor – whoever they are and from whichever party – can expect to hear from us on what they will do to ensure residents are covered by the scheme when it is renewed in the coming years.

It’s clear East Village isn’t doing enough on building safety and many residents continue to have their ability to simply live in their own homes in safety disrupted by chaotic, late, and poorly communicated action. We want to push further and harder on the Council holding East Village to account in this area.

We also want to see action by the Council and the Government to ensure community space is provided in East Village – there was supposed to be a permanent community hub within the village but East Village and Get Living have failed to provide this, using planning loopholes. Venues within the Village remain empty while residents go underserved. The Council can and should take action.

5. What is the single most important thing you would do for East Village residents in the next four years?

We will work hard for residents and we will take every opportunity to speak up on your behalf. We’re not going to disappear the moment election day has come and gone, like we’ve seen from other parties.

You don’t have to take our word for it – our track record over the past four years shows we’re here to work in our community and to be visible, available and accountable. We will continue to hold our regular advice surgeries and community litter picks – you will see us out in our community taking action on the issues you experience.

The Green Party has only two vested interests – protecting the people and protecting the planet. We will be free to speak up for you – no party leader will be telling us what to say or how to vote on your behalf, unlike the other parties who whip their councillors. We will ensure the experiences you communicate with us guide our work every day.

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East Village Hub invited all candidates and parties standing in Stratford Olympic Park ward to respond to these questions. Only the Green Party candidates replied by the time of publication. This page will be updated if further responses are received.