Clacton By-Election Candidate Profile
Adham Alkhatip
Adham Alkhatip is the 19-year-old leader of the Forward Party and an aerospace engineering student at Queen Mary University of London. His party combines strongly interventionist housing and economic policies with worker rights, free university education, drug decriminalisation, political-finance reform and a highly active social-media campaign.
Young candidate, newly registered party
Alkhatip is not standing as an Independent. He is the leader of a registered political party that was authorised by the Electoral Commission in March 2026 and has already contested a London local election.
Who is Adham Alkhatip?
Alkhatip is one of the youngest candidates in the election and has built much of his public profile through social media.
Aerospace engineering student
Alkhatip’s LinkedIn profile records him as studying for a Bachelor of Engineering in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at Queen Mary University of London, with study dates from 2025 to 2028.
The Times also described him during the Clacton campaign as a 19-year-old aerospace student.
Large social-media following
Democracy Club lists public Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok accounts for Alkhatip.
During The Times’ 8 August report from Clacton, the newspaper said Alkhatip was keeping approximately 199,000 TikTok followers updated during the campaign.
The Forward Party
The party describes housing, stagnant wages and the influence of wealth over democracy as neglected political issues.
Registered in March 2026
Electoral Commission records show that the Forward Party was registered on 12 March 2026 and is authorised to field candidates in England, Scotland and Wales.
Adham Alkhatip is listed as leader and treasurer. Masai Thompson is the nominating officer.
Wide-ranging manifesto
The party’s current manifesto covers housing, banking, economic reform, trade unions, pensions, transport, the NHS, higher education, drugs and electoral reform.
Several proposals go substantially beyond the programmes of the main Westminster parties, particularly on housing ownership, banking and political donations.
“The only UK party that addresses neglected issues such as the housing crisis, economic stagnation of wages, and the threat of wealth influence in our democracy.”
Forward Party websiteHousing and mortgages
Housing is one of the most radical parts of the Forward Party manifesto.
One-home ownership cap
Proposes limiting each citizen or permanent resident to one home, with corporations, trusts and overseas buyers prevented from owning homes.
End Right to Buy
Wants council housing retained in public ownership rather than sold at a discount.
Rent caps
Proposes local rent limits tied to 10% of median wages, with private renting largely phased out as landlords sell.
More social housing
Supports direct public construction, conversion of government offices and public acquisition of homes sold by investors and corporate owners.
0% mortgages
Proposes 0% interest, 0% deposit mortgages after a year of stable employment or rental history.
Mortgage lending cap
Wants mortgage borrowing restricted to three times a single income to reduce house-price inflation.
Industry, workers and taxation
The party mixes pro-industry growth measures with stronger worker rights and higher taxation of investment income.
NHS, education, pensions and drugs
Forward’s public-service platform is economically interventionist but includes some major restructuring of existing entitlements.
Free university
Wants tuition fully funded for one bachelor’s and one master’s degree for every home student.
Write off student loans
Proposes wiping existing student-loan balances rather than only changing repayment terms.
Train NHS staff domestically
Wants more UK training capacity for healthcare roles while reducing reliance on healthcare visas.
Regional transport authorities
Proposes TfL-style public transport authorities in every region with control over timetables and fares.
Drug decriminalisation
Supports a Portugal-style system where small-scale personal possession is treated as a healthcare matter while dealers remain prosecuted.
Change pensions
Wants most National Insurance contributions redirected into personal pension pots, while maintaining means-tested state support for pensioners who need it and ending the triple lock.
Lower benefit withdrawal
Proposes reducing the benefit withdrawal rate to 20p for every £1 earned to increase the reward from work.
Food redistribution
Wants large businesses to redistribute usable leftover food directly or through food-bank networks.
Practical qualifications
Wants schools to offer work-focused qualifications such as the Care Certificate and CSCS card.
Ban private political donations
The Forward Party’s democracy policy is one of the clearest distinctions between it and the established Westminster parties.
Public funding instead of private donations
The party proposes banning private political donations, including donations in kind.
Instead, each voter would receive a publicly funded allowance of £4 per year to direct to a registered party or Independent candidate of their choice.
Proportional representation
Forward proposes a form of Additional Member System using a single vote. Constituency winners would keep their seats, with additional MPs then added nationally to make the overall result more proportional using the Sainte-Lague method.
The party also proposes restrictions preventing parties from using public political funding to acquire permanent assets such as property.
AI political position indicator
The Forward Party is economically well to the left of the current Conservative and Reform platforms and in several areas to the left of Labour. Its programme includes rent controls, a one-home ownership cap, large-scale social housing, free university, student-debt cancellation, stronger trade unions, drug decriminalisation, equal tax treatment for capital income and wages, a ban on private political donations and greater state control over credit creation. It also contains some market-oriented and growth-focused positions, including airport expansion, stock-market reform and private-bank participation in its proposed banking system. Overall, the published programme is best described as Left rather than Far Left.
FL = Far Left, L = Left, C = Centre, R = Right, FR = Far Right. This is an approximate Clacton.org AI editorial estimate based on the party’s published manifesto and Alkhatip’s political role. It is not a position supplied, endorsed or approved by Adham Alkhatip or the Forward Party.
Known election contests: 2
Clacton is Alkhatip’s second known election contest and his first parliamentary election.
| Date | Election | Party | Votes | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 May 2026 | Bethnal Green East, Tower Hamlets local election | Forward Party | 12 | Not elected, 21st of 21, 0.06% |
| 13 August 2026 | Clacton Parliamentary By-Election | The Forward Party | Pending | Current election |
Candidate and party links
Sources and further information
This profile uses official Electoral Commission and election records, the Forward Party’s current manifesto, Democracy Club, Alkhatip’s professional profile and national reporting from the Clacton campaign.