Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, also known as Tower Hamlets Council, is the local authority for the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, England. It is a

London borough The London boroughs are the current 32 districts of England, local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present ...

council, one of 32 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The council has been under the control of local party Aspire since 2022. It has been led by a directly elected mayor since 2010. The council is based at Tower Hamlets Town Hall on

Whitechapel Road Whitechapel Road is a major arterial road in Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It is named after a small chapel of ease dedicated to St Mary and connects Whitechapel High Street to the west with Mile End Road to the east ...

History

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets and its council were created under the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

, with the first election held in 1964. For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's three outgoing authorities, being the three

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

councils of

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

, Poplar and

Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...

. The new council formally came into its powers on 1 April 1965, at which point the old boroughs and their councils were abolished. The council's full legal name is "The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets", but it styles itself Tower Hamlets Council. From 1965 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

. The split of powers and functions meant that the Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance,

flood prevention Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

, and

refuse disposal Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitor ...

; with the boroughs (including Tower Hamlets) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and

refuse collection Waste collection is a part of the process of waste management. It is the transfer of solid waste from the point of use and disposal to the point of list of waste treatment technologies, treatment or landfill. Waste collection also includes th ...

. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the London Boroughs, with some services provided through joint committees. Tower Hamlets became a

local education authority Local education authorities (LEAs) were defined in England and Wales as the local councils responsible for education within their jurisdictions. The term was introduced by the Education Act 1902, which transferred education powers from school bo ...

in 1990 when the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was the local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. From 1965 to 1986 it was an ad hoc committee of the Greater London Co ...

was dissolved. From 1986 to 1994 the council experimented with decentralisation of services to seven neighbourhood areas. Since 2000 the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the Metonymy, metonym City Hall, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved Regions of England, regional governance body of Greater London, England. It consists of two political ...

has taken some responsibility for highways and planning control from the council, but within the English local government system the council remains a "most purpose" authority in terms of the available range of powers and functions. In 2008 the council named two tower blocks in Sidney Street as 'Peter House' and 'Painter House' after Peter the Painter, a Latvian anarchist gangster reputedly involved in the Siege of Sidney Street in 1911, whose true identity is not known. Having escaped capture, he had become an

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...

in the East End. A local councillor and the Metropolitan Police Federation protested against the naming, saying that he should not be honoured. In 2010, following a referendum, the directly elected role of Mayor of Tower Hamlets was created to serve as the council's political leader. Lutfur Rahman was elected as the first such mayor. He was re-elected in 2014, but the result of that election was declared void the following year in the case of Erlam v Rahman at the Election Court, which reported Rahman and one of the councillors to be guilty of

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

under the

Representation of the People Act 1983 The Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the British electoral process in the following ways: * Amended the Representation of the People Act 1969 (c. 15). * Stated that a ...

. He was thus removed from his office with immediate effect and was also barred from standing for elected office until 2021. The police subsequently carried out an investigation into whether criminal charges should be brought against anyone involved regarding the electoral fraud, but concluded that there was insufficient evidence to do so. Labour's John Biggs won the subsequent mayoral by-election following Rahman's removal in 2015, and retained the post at the 2018 election. Rahman's ban on standing for office expired in 2021, allowing him to contest the mayoralty again in 2022. He stood under the banner of a new local party called Aspire. Rahman defeated Biggs for the mayoralty, and Aspire also won a majority of the seats on the council. In February 2023, the chief executive of the

Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) is a UK based organisation for accountants who work in the public sector, accounting firms and other professional bodies where management of public funds are required. CIPFA is the ...

(CIPFA) said he had concerns about the management of the council under Aspire and believed that government intervention may be necessary.

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the London Government Act 1963 and subsequent legislation, and has the powers and functions of a London borough council. It sets council tax and as a billing authority also collects precepts for

functions and business rates. It sets planning policies which complement Greater London Authority and national policies, and decides on almost all planning applications accordingly. It is a

and is also responsible for

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...

, social services, libraries, waste collection and disposal, traffic, and most roads and environmental health.

Political control

The council has been under Aspire majority control since 2022. The first election was held in 1964, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1965. Political control of the council since 1965 has been as follows: (Put "Tower Hamlets" in search box to see specific results.)

Leadership

Prior to 2010, political leadership was provided by the

leader of the council Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

, with the role of Mayor of Tower Hamlets at that time being largely ceremonial. The leaders from 1965 to 2010 were: In 2010 the council changed to having directly elected mayors with executive powers. To avoid the confusion of having multiple mayors, the old ceremonial role of mayor was renamed as the chair, and was renamed again in 2011 as the speaker. The elected mayors since 2010 have been:

Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent changes of allegiance, the composition of the council (excluding the elected mayor's seat) is: The next election is due 7 May 2026, where all seats of the council will be contested.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2014, the council has comprised the elected mayor plus 45

councillors A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or regi ...

, representing 20 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held for the mayor and councillors together every four years.

Premises

The council is based at Tower Hamlets Town Hall at 160 Whitechapel Road, which was completed in 2023 behind the retained façade of the old

Royal London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and sp ...

, which had been built in 1757. When the council was first created in 1965, it had been based at the old Bethnal Green Town Hall, which had been built in 1910 for Bethnal Green Borough Council. In 1993 the council moved to a new town hall at Mulberry Place in the Blackwall area of the borough, remaining there until 2023. Tower Hamlets Town Hall 2015-06-19 02

List of councillors

The councillors before and after the 2022 elections were as follows: and 8 May 2022.

References

{{Authority control Local authorities in London London borough councils Politics of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Local authorities in England with elected mayor Local education authorities in England Billing authorities in England