Directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets

Mayor of Tower Hamlets
Incumbent Lutfur Rahman since 25 October 2010[1]
Style	No courtesy title or style
Appointer	Electorate of Tower Hamlets
Term length	Four years
Inaugural holder	Lutfur Rahman
Formation	May 2010 referendum

The directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets is a new directly elected mayor, elected on 21 October 2010, taking on the executive function of Tower Hamlets London Borough Council in east London, England. The position is different from the existing largely ceremonial, annually appointed mayors of Tower Hamlets, who will become known as 'chair of council' after the first election.^[2]

Referendum

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. Respect^{[citation needed]} and Islamic Forum Europe organised a petition to trigger a referendum for this change.^[3] 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.^[3]

Local authority	Date	Yes Votes	Yes Vote %	No Votes	No Vote %	Turnout %
Tower Hamlets	6 May 2010	60,758	60.3	39,857	39.7	62.1

Candidate selection

Political parties began selecting their candidates for the forthcoming election in October 2010. The candidates selected are:

Candidate	Political party
Helal Uddin Abbas	Labour Party[4]
Alan Duffell	Green Party[5]
John Griffiths	Liberal Democrats[6]
Neil King	Conservative Party[7]
Lutfur Rahman	Independent[8]

Lutfur Rahman initially appeared to have won the nomination to be candidate for the Labour Party.^[4] Members of the Respect Party at an internal meeting decided not to field a candidate, urging their supporters to back the Labour Party candidate.^[9] Lutfur Rahman was soon dropped as the official Labour Party candidate by the National Executive Committee on 21 September while it investigated "serious allegations concerning both the eligibility of participating voters, and the conduct of Lutfur Rahman." The Labour Party proceeded to select Helal Uddin Abbas as their candidate for the forthcoming election,^[4][10] who had originally come third in the Labour selection process.

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 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.^[3] Labour's former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, also campaigned in support of Rahman, in breach of Labour Party rules.^[11]

Results

The election took place on Thursday 21 October 2010, with a 25.6 per cent turn out.^[2] The new mayor officially took office on Monday 25 October 2010.^[1]

Tower Hamlets mayoral election, 2010[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Lutfur Rahman	23,283	51.8
	Labour	Helal Uddin Abbas	11,254	25.0
	Conservative	Neil King	5,348	11.9
	Liberal Democrat	John Griffiths	2,800	6.2
	Green	Alan Duffell	2,300	5.1
Majority			12,029	26.7
Turnout			44,985	25.6

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Council boss in charge until new Tower Hamlets mayor takes charge on Monday". East London Advertiser. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-12-14. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fcouncil_boss_in_charge_until_new_tower_hamlets_mayor_takes_charge_on_monday_1_687541&date=2010-12-14. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Mayoral election result, 21 October 2010". Tower Hamlets London Borough Council. October 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-12-14. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.towerhamlets.gov.uk%2Flgsl%2F701-750%2F721_election_results.aspx&date=2010-12-14. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Gilligan, Andrew (17 October 2010). "Tower Hamlets extremist vote poses Ed Miliband's first big election test". Sunday Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8068839/PICS-AND-PUBLISH-Tower-Hamlets-extremist-vote-poses-Eds-first-big-election-test.html. Retrieved 2010-10-18. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Labour drops its front-runner in East End mayor battle". East London Advertiser. Archived from the original on 2010-12-14. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk%2Fnews%2Flabour_drops_its_front_runner_in_east_end_mayor_battle_1_654320&date=2010-12-14. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
5. ^ "Alan Duffell selected as Green Party Mayoral Candidate". Tower Hamlets Green Party. 2010-10-21. http://towerhamlets.greenparty.org.uk/localsites/towerhamlets/news/alan-duffel-selected-as-green-party-mayoral-candidate.html. Retrieved 2010-12-04. 
6. ^ "John Griffiths selected as Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of Tower Hamlets". Stephanieeaton.org.uk. 2010-10-21. http://stephanieeaton.org.uk/news/000025/john_griffiths_selected_as_liberal_democrat_candidate_for_mayor_of_tower_hamlets.html. Retrieved 2010-12-04. 
7. ^ Vote for a King - Neil King (2010-08-11). "Vote for a King - Neil King". Wharf. http://www.wharf.co.uk/2010/08/vote-for-a-king--neil-king.html. Retrieved 2010-12-04. 
8. ^ "Rahman to stand as independent in Tower Hamlets mayoral race". East London Advertiser. 23 September 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-12-14. http://www.webcitation.org/5uxym8Szu. Retrieved 2010-12-14. 
9. ^ "Respect Backs Lutfur Rahman For Tower Hamlets Mayoral Election". Socialist Unity. Archived from the original on 2010-12-14. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.socialistunity.com%2F%3Fp%3D6698&date=2010-12-14. Retrieved 2010-12-04. 
10. ^ Hill, Dave. "The Guardian Dave Hill Blog". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/davehillblog/2010/sep/21/lutfur-rahman-removed-as-labour-tower-hamlets-mayoral-candidate. Retrieved 2010-12-04. 
11. ^ "Ken Livingstone campaigning for non-Labour candidate". BBC News. 2010-10-18. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11569758. Retrieved 2010-12-04.