The mayor of Tower Hamlets is the
directly elected mayor of
Tower Hamlets London Borough Council
Tower Hamlets London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London, England. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets, cu ...
in east
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, 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
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originall ...
, who became known as the 'Chair of Council' after the first election and are now known as the 'Speaker of Council'.
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
The Respect Party was a left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left, Socialism, socialist political party active in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 201