Mayor of Tower Hamlets
Incumbent
Lutfur Rahman
since 9 May 2022
StyleNo courtesy title or style
AppointerElectorate of Tower Hamlets
Term lengthFour years
Inaugural holderLutfur Rahman
FormationMay 2010 referendum

The mayor of Tower Hamlets is the directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets London Borough Council in east London, England. The first election for this position occurred on 21 October 2010, taking on the executive function of the borough council. The position is different from the previous largely ceremonial, annually appointed mayors of Tower Hamlets, who became known as the 'Chair of Council' after the first election and are now known as the 'Speaker of Council'.[1] The second election was held on 22 May 2014, the same day as the Tower Hamlets Council election, other United Kingdom local elections, and European Parliament elections, but the election result was declared void by the election court. A by-election was held on 11 June 2015.

Referendum

2010

The proposal to change the status of the borough from one with a leader and cabinet to one with an executive mayor was initially opposed by all the main political parties and was an initiative only proposed and supported by the Respect Party. Islamic Forum Europe organised a petition to trigger a referendum for this change.[2] Council officers stated that almost half the signatures were invalid, with entire pages bearing the same handwriting. Despite the flaws in the petition, there were sufficient valid signatures for the council to accept it, and a referendum was held on 6 May 2010 simultaneously with the voting in the United Kingdom general election. The referendum was passed after an intensive campaign.[2]

Mayor of Tower Hamlets Referendum
6 May 2010
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Elected Mayor 60,758 59.67
Cabinet System 39,857 39.15
Ballot paper(s) rejected 1,203 1.18
Total votes 100,615 100.00
Source: https://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=147&RPID=0

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph on 17 October, Andrew Gilligan represented the forthcoming election as the first big test for the recently elected Labour leader Ed Miliband, given the possibility of an independent candidate defeating the official Labour candidate in a strong Labour borough. Gilligan also said that it raised concerns over the political power of radical Islam in the UK, because of candidate Lutfur Rahman's connections with Islamic Forum Europe. The latter, along with local business interests which had supported the petition and referendum to have a mayor, prominently backed Rahman's campaign.[2] Labour's former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, also campaigned in support of Rahman, in breach of Labour Party rules.[3]

2021

London Borough of Tower Hamlets Referendum on the Councils Governance Model.
6 May 2021
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Keep,

By a mayor who is elected by voters.

 63,029 74.66
Change,

By a leader who is an elected councillor chosen by a vote of the other elected councillors.

 17,951 21.26
Ballot paper(s) rejected 3,444 4.08
Total votes 80,980 100.00
Source: https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-council/referendum-result-to-keep-tower-hamlets-mayor-7958210

Elections

2010

The first election took place on Thursday 21 October 2010, with a 25.6 per cent turn out.[4] The new mayor officially took office on Monday 25 October 2010.[5]

Tower Hamlets mayoral election 21 October 2010 [4]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Independent Lutfur Rahman 23,283 51.8%
​​
Labour Helal Uddin Abbas 11,254 25.0%
​​
Conservative Neil King 5,348 11.9%
​​
Liberal Democrats John Griffiths 2,800 6.2%
​​
Green Alan Duffell 2,300 5.1%
​​
Turnout 46,719 25.60% Rejected ballots: 1,734
Registered electors 182,482
Independent win

2014

In April 2015, this election was declared void by an election court.[6]

Tower Hamlets Mayoral Election 22 May 2014 (since declared void by an election court[7]) [8]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Tower Hamlets First Lutfur Rahman 36,539 43.38% 856 37,395 52.27%
​​
Labour John Biggs 27,643 32.82% 6,500 34,143 47.73%
​​
Conservative Christopher Wilford 7,173 8.52%
​​
UKIP Nicholas McQueen 4,819 5.72%
​​
Green Chris Smith 4,699 5.58%
​​
Liberal Democrats Reetendra Banerji 1,959 2.33%
​​
TUSC Hugo Pierre 871 1.03%
​​
Independent Reza Choudhury 205 0.24%
​​
Independent Mohammed Khan 164 0.19%
​​
Independent Hafiz Kadir 162 0.19%
​​
Turnout 86,540 47.58% Rejected ballots: 2,306
Registered electors 181,871
Void election result

2015 by-election

After the 2014 election was declared void, a new election was held on 11 June 2015.[6][7][9][10]

Tower Hamlets Mayoral by-election, 2015[11]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Labour John Biggs[12] 27,255 40.00% 5,499 32,754 55.39%
​​
Independent Rabina Khan[13] 25,763 37.81% 621 26,384 44.61%
​​
Conservative Peter Golds 5,940 8.72%
​​
Green John Foster[14] 2,678 3.93%
​​
Liberal Democrats Elaine Bagshaw 2,152 3.16%
​​
Red Flag Anti-Corruption Andy Erlam 1,768 2.59%
​​
UKIP Nicholas McQueen 1,669 2.45%
​​
Independent Hafiz Kadir 316 0.46%
​​
Animal Welfare Vanessa Hudson 305 0.45%
​​
Independent Md. Motiur Rahman Nanu 292 0.43%
​​
Turnout 69,643 37.73% Rejected ballots: 1,505
Registered electors 184,563
Labour gain from Independent

Councillor Rabina Khan initially announced that she would stand as the Tower Hamlets First candidate.[15] However, as a result of findings in the election court case against Lutfur Rahman, Tower Hamlets First was removed from the register of political parties by the Electoral Commission as the party was not operating a responsible financial scheme and the running of the party did not follow the documentation given in the party's registration.[16][17] Khan subsequently stood as an independent candidate.

Andy Erlam is a writer and film-maker who led the legal action against Rahman which resulted in the previous election being declared void. He had previously stood elsewhere as a Parliamentary candidate[18] for Labour, then as the first candidate fielded by "Red Flag Anti-Corruption" in the Tower Hamlets Council elections on 22 May 2014.[19] Red Flag Anti-Corruption had also fielded two parliamentary candidates in the 2015 UK general election,[20] Jason Pavlou for Bethnal Green and Bow and Rene Claudel Mugenzi for Poplar and Limehouse, both within Tower Hamlets.

Liberal Democrat Elaine Bagshaw and UKIP candidate Nicholas McQueen both stood for their respective parties in Poplar and Limehouse at the 2015 general election.

2018

Tower Hamlets mayoral election 3 May 2018[21]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Labour John Biggs 37,619 48.43% 7,246 44,865 72.66%
​​
PATH Rabina Khan 13,113 16.88% 3,765 16,878 27.34%
​​
Aspire Ohid Ahmed 11,109 14.30%
​​
Conservative Anwara Ali 6,149 7.92%
​​
Liberal Democrats Elaine Bagshaw 5,598 7.21%
​​
Green Ciaran Jebb 3,365 4.33%
​​
TUSC Hugo Pierre 728 0.94%
​​
Turnout 80,252 41.96% Rejected ballots: 2,571
Registered electors 191,244
Labour hold

John Biggs defended the seat for Labour. Following a split in the former Tower Hamlets First group, Cllr Rabina Khan stood again, as the candidate for her new party, the People's Alliance of Tower Hamlets (PATH) while Cllr Ohid Ahmed stood for Aspire, which emerged from the post-Tower Hamlets First Tower Hamlets Independent Group.[22] The Conservative Party selected Dr Anwara Ali MBE, a local GP[23] and, until 2010, local Labour councillor.[24] The Liberal Democrats selected Elaine Bagshaw, their 2015 candidate.[25] In August 2018, Khan wound up PATH and joined the Liberal Democrats.[26]

2022

Biggs sought to defend his seat for Labour. In January 2022, Liberal Democrat councillor Rabina Khan was announced as the party's candidate for the mayoralty.[27] Independent councillor Andrew Wood, who had resigned from the Conservative group in 2020, announced he would stand for election as both a councillor and mayor.[28] Former mayor of the borough, Lutfur Rahman, announced his candidacy for the Aspire party in February 2022.[29] Rahman's five-year ban from standing for election, having been found guilty by an election court of "corrupt and illegal practices", had elapsed.[30][31] He was endorsed at his formal campaign launch in March by the former mayor of London Ken Livingstone and the peer Pola Uddin.[32] Rahman won the election with a final vote share of 54.9%, unseating incumbent John Biggs and taking the mayoralty for the second time.

Tower Hamlets mayoral election 5 May 2022[33]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Aspire Lutfur Rahman 39,533 46.99% 1,271 40,804 54.90%
​​
Labour John Biggs 27,894 33.20% 5,593 33,487 45.10%
​​
Liberal Democrats Rabina Khan 6,430 7.65%
​​
Conservative Elliott Weaver 4,269 5.07%
​​
Independent Andrew Wood 3,985 4.74%
​​
TUSC Hugo Pierre 1,462 1.74%
​​
Independent Pamela Holmes 552 0.66%
​​
Turnout 84,125 41.92% Rejected ballots: 1,864
Registered electors 205,189
Aspire gain from Labour

List of elected mayors

Political party Name Term of office & mandate
Independent Lutfur Rahman 25 October 2010 23 April 2015 2010
Tower Hamlets First
(2013–15)
(2014)[lower-alpha 1]
4 years and 181 days
Labour Co-op John Biggs 15 June 2015 8 May 2022 2015
2018
6 years and 328 days
Aspire Lutfur Rahman 9 May 2022 Incumbent 2022
1 year and 250 days

Notes

  1. ↑ In April 2015 this election was declared void by an election court.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Tower Hamlets Speaker of Council". Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Gilligan, Andrew (17 October 2010). "Tower Hamlets extremist vote poses Ed Miliband's first big election test". Sunday Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 October 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "Ken Livingstone campaigning for non-Labour candidate". BBC News. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Mayoral election result, 21 October 2010". Tower Hamlets London Borough Council. October 2010. Archived from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  5. ↑ "Council boss in charge until new Tower Hamlets mayor takes charge on Monday". East London Advertiser. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 "Tower Hamlets election fraud mayor Lutfur Rahman removed from office". BBC. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  7. 1 2 Richard Mawrey QC (23 April 2015). "In the matter of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and in the matter of a Mayoral Election for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets held on 22 May 2014" (PDF). High Court of Justice. M/350/14. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Tower Hamlets Mayoral Election – Thursday, 22nd May, 2014". Tower Hamlets Council. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Mayoral and Stepney Green elections 2015". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
  10. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 June 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ↑ "Election results for Tower Hamlets". Tower Hamlets Council. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  12. ↑ Sebastian Mann (25 April 2015). "Lutfur Rahman: Labour selects John Biggs to stand in re-run Tower Hamlets election". Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  13. ↑ Lauren Rickard (5 May 2015). "Rabina Khan to stand as 'independent candidate' in re-run Tower Hamlets mayoral election". Eastlondonlines. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  14. ↑ Tower Hamlets Green Party, http://towerhamlets.greenparty.org.uk/news/2015/04/29/john-foster-selected-to-fight-re-run-tower-hamlets-mayoral-election-for-green-party/
  15. ↑ Mike Brooke (1 May 2015). "Rabina Khan takes on fight for sacked mayor Rahman for Tower Hamlets re-run election". Docklands and East London Advertiser. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  16. ↑ Mike Brooke (29 April 2015). "Rahman's 'Tower Hamlets First' is removed from Electoral Commission's party register". Docklands and East London Advertiser. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  17. ↑ "Media statement on removal of Tower Hamlets First from the Electoral Commission's register of political parties". Electoral Commission. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  18. ↑ Press Association (26 April 2015). "Leader of legal fight against Tower Hamlets mayor to run for office". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  19. ↑ "Campaigner demands removal of returning officer – Eastlondonlines". www.eastlondonlines.co.uk.
  20. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. ↑ "Election results for Tower Hamlets, 3 May 2018". Tower Hamlets Council. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  22. ↑ "Tower Hamlets mayor election rivals in tug-of-war as 'breach of protocol' row erupts". 7 March 2018.
  23. ↑ "Conservative party nominates Dr Anwara Ali for Tower Hamlets' mayor". 21 February 2018.
  24. ↑ "Knife crime and corruption weigh heavy on minds of East End voters", by Rachael Burford, Evening Standard, 2 May 2018, p. 14
  25. ↑ Shelton, Gareth Lewis. "Liberal Democrats Elect Elaine Bagshaw as Mayoral Candidate". Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats.
  26. ↑ "Rabina Khan joins Liberal Democrats". East London News.
  27. ↑ Doughty, Ellie (17 January 2022). "Lib Dem candidate for Tower Hamlets mayor announced". East London Advertiser. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  28. ↑ LDRS, Alastair Lockhart (21 January 2022). "Councillor says he 'hopes to lose' next election". East London Advertiser. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  29. ↑ Lydall, Ross (21 February 2022). "Disgraced former Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman to stand again". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  30. ↑ Hill, Dave (12 November 2020). "Tower Hamlets: Return of Lutfur Rahman?". OnLondon. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  31. ↑ "Tower Hamlets election fraud mayor Lutfur Rahman removed from office". BBC News. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  32. ↑ Baynes, Mark (17 March 2022). ""I Would Trust Lutfur Rahman With My Life" says Ken Livingstone". East End Enquirer.
  33. ↑ "Election results for Tower Hamlets, 5 May 2022". Tower Hamlets Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
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