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Tower Hamlets London Borough Council

Local authority in London, England

Field	Value
name	Tower Hamlets London Borough Council
coa_pic	Coat of arms of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.svg
coa_res	100px
coa_caption	Coat of arms
logo_pic	Lb tower hamlets.svg
logo_caption	Council logo
logo_res	200px
foundation	1 April 1965
house_type	London borough council
leader1_type	Speaker
leader1	Suluk Ahmed
party1
Aspire
election1	14 May 2025
leader2_type	Mayor
leader2	Lutfur Rahman
party2
Aspire
election2	9 May 2022
leader3_type	Chief Executive
leader3	Steve Halsey
party3
election3	February 2023
members	45 councillors plus elected mayor
structure1	Tower Hamlets London Borough Council 2025.svg
structure1_res	250px
political_groups1	;Administration (22)
:	border	darkgray}} Aspire (22)}}
:	border	darkgray}} Labour (16)}}
:	border	darkgray}} Conservative (1)}}
:	border	darkgray}} Green (1)
:	border	darkgray}} Independent (5)
voting_system1	Plurality block voting
last_election1	5 May 2022
next_election1	7 May 2026
session_room	Tower Hamlets Town Hall 2023 (1).jpg
session_res	250
meeting_place	Tower Hamlets Town Hall
160 Whitechapel Road, London, E11BJ
website
constitution

Aspire Aspire : ;Other parties (23) : : : Green (1) : Independent (5) 160 Whitechapel Road, London, E11BJ Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, also known as Tower Hamlets Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London, England. 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.

History

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets and its council were created under the London Government Act 1963, 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 councils of Bethnal Green, Poplar and Stepney. 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 split of powers and functions meant that the Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal; with the boroughs (including Tower Hamlets) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. 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 in 1990 when the Inner London Education Authority was dissolved.

From 1986 to 1994 the council experimented with decentralisation of services to seven neighbourhood areas.

Since 2000 the Greater London Authority 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 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 under the Representation of the People Act 1983. 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 (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 Greater London Authority 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 local education authority and is also responsible for council housing, social services, libraries, waste collection and disposal, traffic, and most roads and environmental health.

Political control

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. The council has been under Aspire majority control since 2022, aside from a brief period of no majority control from November 2024 to December 2024.

Political control of the council since 1965 has been as follows:

Party in control	Years
	1965–1986
	1986–1988
	1988–1994
	1994–2017
	2017–2018
	2018–2022
	2022–Nov 2024
		Nov 2024–Dec 2024
	Dec 2024–Present

Leadership

Prior to 2010, political leadership was provided by the leader of the council, with the role of Mayor of Tower Hamlets at that time being largely ceremonial. The leaders from 1965 to 2010 were:

Councillor	From	To
John Orwell	1965	1974
Paul Beasley	1974	1984
John Riley	1984	1986
Eric Flounders	1986	1987
Chris Birt	1987	1988
Brenda Collins	1988	1990
Eric Flounders	1990	1991
Peter Hughes	1991	1994
John Biggs	1994	1995
Dennis Twomey	1995	1997
Michael Keith	1997	1998
Julia Mainwaring	1998	1999
Michael Keith	1999	2001
Helal Abbas	2001	2005
Michael Keith	2005	May 2006
Denise Jones	24 May 2006	21 May 2008
Lutfur Rahman	21 May 2008	26 May 2010
Helal Abbas	26 May 2010	21 Oct 2010

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:

Mayor	From	To
Lutfur Rahman	25 Oct 2010	25 May 2014
(Lutfur Rahman)	26 May 2014	23 Apr 2015
John Biggs	15 Jun 2015	8 May 2022
Lutfur Rahman	9 May 2022

Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent changes of allegiance, the composition of the council (excluding the elected mayor's seat) is:

Party	Councillors	Total	45
	22
	16
	5
	1
	1

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, 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, 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.

List of councillors

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

Ward	Councillor
until May 2022	Notes	Councillor
from May 2022	Party at 2022 election	Current Party
Bethnal Green East	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Ahbab Hossain		Rebaka Sultana	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Sirajul Islam	Statutory Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing	Sirajul Islam	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Eve McQuillan	Mayoral Advisor for Tackling Poverty & Inequality	Ahmodul Kabir	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Bethnal Green West
(formerly St Peter's)	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Kevin Brady		Musthak Ahmed	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Tarik Khan	Majority Group Whip	Abu Talha Chowdhury	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Gabriela Salva Macallan		Miraj Amin Rahman	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Blackwall and Cubitt Town	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Ehtasham Haque		Ahmodur Rahman Khan	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Mohammed Pappu		Abdul Malik	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Candida Roland	Cabinet Member for Resources and the Voluntary Sector	Muhammad Bellal Uddin	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Bow East	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Amina Ali	Cabinet Member for Culture, Arts and Brexit	Amina Ali	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Rachel Nancy Blake	Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Air Quality	Rachel Nancy Blake	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Marc Francis		Marc Francis	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Bow West	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Asma Begum	Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Equalities	Asma Begum	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Val Whitehead		Nathalie Sylvia Bienfait	Green Party of England and Wales}}; color:white"	Green	Green Party of England and Wales}}; color:white"	Green
Bromley North	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Zenith Rahman		Muhammad Saif Uddin Khaled	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Dan Tomlinson		Abdul Mannan	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Bromley South	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Danny Hassell	Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Young People	Bodruf Islam Choudhury	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Helal Uddin		Shahaveer Hussain	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Canary Wharf	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Kyrsten Perry		Saled Ahmed	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		Andrew Wood	author=Jon King	url=https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/politics/andrew-wood-resigns-1-6517955	title=Tory councillor quits party over Brexit and Westferry Printworks scheme	publisher=East London Advertiser	access-date=2020-05-29}}	Mohammad Maium Miah Talukdar	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Island Gardens	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Mufeedah Bustin		Mufeedah Bustin	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		Peter Stacey Golds		Peter Stacey Golds	Conservative Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Conservative	Conservative Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Conservative
Lansbury	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Kahar Chowdhury		Abul Monsur Ohid Ahmed	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Muhammad Harun		Jahed Choudhury	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Independent politician}}; color:white"	Independent
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Bex White		Iqbal Hossain	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Limehouse	Labour Party (UK)}}"		James Robert Venables King		James Robert Venables King	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Mile End	Labour Party (UK)}}"		David Edger	Cabinet Member for Environment	Leelu Ahmed	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Asam Islam	Mayoral Advisor for Young People	Mohammad Saifur Rahman Chowdhury	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Puru Miah		Sabina Khan	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Poplar	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Sufia Alam		Gulam Kibria Choudhury	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Shadwell	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Ruhul Amin	Cabinet Member for Environment	Ana Miah	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Liberal Democrats (UK)}}"		Rabina Khan	Elected as People's Alliance of Tower Hamlets;
switched to the Liberal Democrats in August 2018	Mohammad Harun Miah	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Spitalfields and Banglatown	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Shad Chowdhury		Sulik Ahmed	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Leema Qureshi		Kabir Hussain	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Independent politician}}; color:white"	Independent
St Dunstan's	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Dipa Das		Maisha Fahmida Begum	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Ayas Miah	Speaker of the Council	Ayas Miah	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour	Independent politician}}; color:white"	Independent
St Katharine's and Wapping	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Denise Jones	Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing	Amy Louise Lee	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Abdal Ullah		Abdal Ullah	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Stepney Green	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Sabina Akhtar	Mayoral Advisor for Community & Voluntary Sector	Sabina Akhtar	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Motin Uz-Zaman	Cabinet Member for Work and Economic Growth	Mohammed Abdul Wahid Ali	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Weavers	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Abdul Mukit		Kabir Ahmed	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Labour Party (UK)}}"		John Pierce		Asma Islam	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Whitechapel	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Faroque Mahfuz Ahmed		Faroque Mahfuz Ahmed	Labour Party (UK)}}; color:white"	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Shah Ameen		Shafi Uddin Ahmed	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Victoria Obaze		Mohammed Kamrul Hussain	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire	Aspire (political party)}}; color:white"	Aspire

Notes

References

"Council minutes, 14 May 2025".
(21 July 2023). "Tower Hamlets appoints permanent chief". Local Government Chronicle.
{{cite legislation UK
Youngs, Frederic. (1979). "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England". Royal Historical Society.
"Mayor and Burgesses of the London borough of tower Hamlets v Secretary of State for Department of the Environment, 1993".
(20 July 2023). "Tower Hamlets Council announces senior appointment".
{{cite legislation UK. (1985)
[[Education Reform Act 1988]] (c. 40)
Dench, Geoff. (2006). "The new East End : kinship, race and conflict". Profile.
Leach, Steve. (1998). "Local Government Reorganisation: The Review and its Aftermath". Routledge.
(25 September 2008). "Tower Blocks Named after Notorious Criminal Linked to Police Killings". Daily Telegraph.
(8 November 2010). "Britain's first Muslim executive mayor vows to 'reach out to every community'". The Guardian.
Tom Whitehead. (2015-04-23). "Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman guilty of corrupt and illegal practices over election". The Daily Telegraph.
{{Citation. Parliament of the United Kingdom. (8 February 1983). "The Representation of the People Act 1983, Chapter 2 (as amended on the 23rd. July 2015), Part III, Section 159". [[The National Archives (UK). The National Archives]], [[Ministry of Justice]], [[Her Majesty's Government. HM Government]]. London]]. link
(23 April 2015). "Tower Hamlets election fraud mayor Lutfur Rahman removed from office". BBC News, [[British Broadcasting Corporation]].
Mike Brooke. (29 April 2015). "Rahman's 'Tower Hamlets First' is removed from Electoral Commission's party register". The Docklands and East London Advertiser.
(7 September 2018). "No charges after Tower Hamlets electoral fraud probe". BBC News.
(12 June 2015). "Stepney Green – Thursday, 11th June, 2015".
(12 June 2015). "Tower Hamlets election: Labour's John Biggs named mayor - BBC News". BBC News.
(6 May 2022). "Lutfur Rahman wins Tower Hamlets mayor vote after five-year ban". The Guardian.
(8 February 2023). "Tower Hamlets: Concerns expressed that council 'going wrong again' as chief executive's departure announced". On London.
"Council Tax and Business Rates Billing Authorities". Council Tax Rates.
"Local Plan Responses – within and outside London". Mayor of London.
Walker, Peter. (2024-11-12). "‘Toxic culture’ around mayor at Tower Hamlets council criticised by inspectors".
(2024-11-19). "Aspire recaptures overall control of Tower Hamlets Council – Lowick".
"Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
(2 February 2017). "Tower Hamlets Labour councillor defects to Lib Dems over Brexit". The Standard.
"London Boroughs Political Almanac: London Borough of Tower Hamlets".
(10 October 2021). "'Voiceless community': Ex-Tower Hamlets leader speaks of childhood experience squatting with thousands of other Bengalis in 1970s". East London Advertiser.
(5 May 2006). "Respect breakthrough in East End". BBC News.
"Council minutes, 24 May 2006".
(22 May 2008). "A shake-up at the Town Hall". BBC News.
"Council minutes, 21 May 2008".
"Council minutes, 26 May 2010".
"Tower Hamlets Speaker of Council".
"Erlam & Anor v Rahman & Anor [2015] EWHC 1215 (QB)".
(17 November 2023). "Scottish Labour steels seat". Thorncliffe.
(27 June 2024). "Councillor quits Labour over Starmer Bangladesh comment". [[BBC News]].
"Tower Hamlets". Thorncliffe.
{{cite legislation UK. (2013)
{{NHLE
(1 March 2023). "Historic Whitechapel building reopens as Tower Hamlets' new town hall". East London Lines.
{{NHLE
Hobhouse, Hermione. (1994). "'Modern Docklands: Modern commercial developments', in Survey of London: Volumes 43 and 44, Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs". British History Online.
(7 December 2015). "Architect sought for new Tower Hamlets town hall". Architects Journal.
"Mayor and Councillors". Tower Hamlets Council.
"Mayor and Councillors". Tower Hamlets Council.
Jon King. "Tory councillor quits party over Brexit and Westferry Printworks scheme". East London Advertiser.

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