Lutfur Rahman elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets

Adarshabarta desk:

Lutfur Rahman has been elected as the Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets following local elections that took place on Thursday 5 May.

Lutfur Rahman of Aspire party received a total of 40,804 votes, followed by John Biggs of the Labour Party who received 33,487 votes.

The Aspire Party, founded by Lutfur Rahman, gained Tower Hamlets Council from Labour after winning 24 of the 45 seats.

The Labour Party has secured 19 seats, while the Green Party won one and the Conservatives won one.

The turnout for the Mayoral election was 41.92 per cent and the turnout for the local election was 41.84 per cent.

Will Tuckley, returning officer for Tower Hamlets and the council’s Chief Executive, said: “First of all I’d like to congratulate Lutfur Rahman on his election victory and I look forward to helping him deliver on his priorities as Mayor for the people of Tower Hamlets.

“I would like to congratulate all of our 45 councillors on their election victories and thank all of our candidates who stood in these elections for playing their part in the democratic process.”

In his victory speech on Friday 6 May, Mr Rahman said: “I want to rebuild Tower Hamlets, I want to invest in our future, and give our people a better future than we had in the last seven years.”

He added: “Judge me and my administration on our record, what we’ve delivered in the first term. The only borough in the country to have free home care. We delivered the London living wage – the first in London. We delivered the university bursary, educational maintenance allowance. Our promises going forward are even more progressive. Judge me on what we will do for you.”

Outgoing mayor Mr Biggs called the result “decisive”, adding that while he was disappointed “I must accept it graciously”.

“I am proud of our many achievements but clearly this reflects a desire for change.”