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. Islamic Forum Europe organised a petition to trigger a referendum for this change. 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. 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 candidate Luftur 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. Labour's former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, also campaigned in support of Rahman, in breach of Labour Party rules.
Elections
2010
The first election took place on Thursday 21 October 2010, with a 25.6 per cent turn out. The new mayor officially took office on Monday 25 October 2010.
2014
In April 2015, this election was declared void by an election court.
2015 by-election
After the 2014 election was declared void, a new election was held on 11 June 2015. Councillor Rabina Khan initially announced that she would stand as the Tower Hamlets First candidate. However, as a result of findings in the election court case against Luftur Rahman, Tower Hamlets First was removed from the register of political parties by the Electoral Commission as the party was not operating a responsible financial scheme and the running of the party did not follow the documentation given in the party’s registration. Khan subsequently said stood as an independent candidate. Andy Erlam is a writer and film-maker who led the legal action against Rahman which resulted in the previous election being declared void. He previously stood as a Parliamentary candidate for Labour. Liberal Democrat Elaine Bagshaw and UKIP candidate Nicholas McQueen both stood for their respective parties in Poplar and Limehouse at the 2015 general election.
