Story perspectives

Rahman Wins Tower Hamlets Mayor, Vows Housing, Free Student Transport

5/9/2026

Summary

Rahman Wins Mayor

Aspire candidate Lutfur Rahman won the Tower Hamlets mayoral race with 35,679 votes (38.8%).
Turnout was 42%, above the 30% national average, under a first-past-the-post system that replaced the Supplementary Vote.
About 885 staff counted ballots at 110 stations, after which Rahman pledged affordable housing and free transport for low-income students while under Best Value envoys’ scrutiny.

Summary

Rahman Removed

Voters elected 45 councillors to the Tower Hamlets London Borough Council on the same ballot.
The council would fund Transport for London passes for low-income students, extending free travel beyond age 16.
Lutfur Rahman, the first Bangladeshi Muslim executive mayor, was removed in April 2015 after a court found him guilty of vote-rigging and religious intimidation.
Reform UK secured roughly 1,000 councillors nationwide, contributing to Labour’s poor performance in the election.

Summary

Vote Count Completed

The mayoral vote count was held at ExCel London on Friday 8 May.
Returning Officer Stephen Halsey called the election an example of a process, among best in the country.
800 staff, aided by Tower Hamlets Police and the Electoral Commission, ran the polling stations.
The council-ward count began at 8:30 am on Saturday 9 May, with a 42.1 percent turnout of 219,030 voters and posting results online.

History

Historical Context

The Greater London Authority was created after a 1998 referendum where 72 % voted for a mayor, leading to the first London mayoral election on 4 May 2000. Ken Livingstone, expelled from Labour, ran as an independent and won with a decisive majority, showing how the new supplementary-vote system could reshape local power. That precedent underpins today’s Tower Hamlets contest, where Lutfur Rahman was elected under first-past-the-post.

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Rahman Wins Mayor

Aspire candidate Lutfur Rahman won the Tower Hamlets mayoral race with 35,679 votes (38.8%).
Turnout was 42%, above the 30% national average, under a first-past-the-post system that replaced the Supplementary Vote.
About 885 staff counted ballots at 110 stations, after which Rahman pledged affordable housing and free transport for low-income students while under Best Value envoys’ scrutiny.

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