Tower Hamlets London Borough Council

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Tower Hamlets London Borough Council
Executive mayor elected every four years
Whole council elected every four years
150px
Coat of arms
Type
Type
Houses Unicameral
Term limits
 None
History
Founded 1 April 1965
Preceded by Bethnal Green Borough Council
Poplar Borough Council
Stepney Borough Council
New session started
 22 May 2014 (Municipal year 2014/2015)
Leadership
John Biggs, Labour Party
Since 11 June 2015
M.A. Mukit MBE
Since 22 May 2014
Structure
Seats 45 councillors
23 / 45
Independent Group
15 / 45
5 / 45
Independent Councillors
2 / 45
Elections
Plurality-at-large
Supplementary vote
Council last election
 22 May 2014
Mayor last election
 11 June 2015
Council next election
 2018
Mayor next election
 2018
Meeting place
Town Hall, Mulberry Place
Website
www.towerhamlets.gov.uk
Constitution
Council constitution

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, currently John Biggs.[1]

Following the May 2014 election, Tower Hamlets London Borough Council was composed of 22 Labour Party members, 19 Tower Hamlets First members and 5 Conservative Party members.[2] Following the removal of Lutfur Rahman as mayor and Alibor Choudhury as councillor, Tower Hamlets First was removed from the Electoral Commission register of political parties, with Labour's Sabina Akhtar replacing Choudhury as councillor for Stepney Green and John Biggs replacing Rahman as Mayor, following the by-elections in June 2015.[3][4]

The council was created by the London Government Act 1963 and replaced three local authorities: Bethnal Green Metropolitan Borough Council, Poplar Metropolitan Borough Council and Stepney Metropolitan Borough Council.

History

There have previously been a number of local authorities responsible for the Tower Hamlets area. The current local authority was first elected in 1964, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on 1 April 1965. Tower Hamlets London Borough Council replaced Bethnal Green Metropolitan Borough Council, Poplar Metropolitan Borough Council and Stepney Metropolitan Borough Council. All three had been created in 1900, in Bethnal Green the borough council replaced the parish vestry and in Poplar the council replaced the board of works; both authorities had been incorporated by the Metropolis Management Act 1855. Stepney had a more convoluted history with the metropolitan borough council established in 1900 replacing the Limehouse District Board of Works, the Whitechapel District Board of Works and the parish vestries of Mile End Old Town and St George in the East.

It was envisaged through the London Government Act 1963 that Tower Hamlets as a London local authority would share power with 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 local authorities responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. This arrangement lasted until 1986 when Tower Hamlets London Borough Council gained responsibility for some services that had been provided by the Greater London Council, such as waste disposal. Tower Hamlets became an education authority in 1990. 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.

Following a local referendum on 6 May 2010, a directly elected executive mayor system of local government commenced with the election on 21 October 2010 of Lutfur Rahman as mayor.

Rahman was re-elected at the 2014 mayoral election, but the result of this election was cancelled and declared null and void on 23 April 2015 when the Election Court officially reported Rahman to be personally guilty of corrupt or illegal practices, or both (electoral fraud) under the Representation of the People Act 1983.[5][6] He was thus removed from his office with immediate effect and was also personally debarred from standing for elected office until 2021.[7][8]

Policies

From 1986 to 1994 the council experimented with decentralisation of services to seven neighbourhood areas.[9]

Finances

Tower Hamlets London Borough Council is the billing authority for Council Tax, and collects a precepts on behalf of the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority the Greater London Authority and Transport for London.

Summary results of elections

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: Tower Hamlets local elections

Previous election results are as follows:

Election Overall control Conservative Labour Lib Dem Others
2014 No overall control 5 22 - 18
2010 Labour 8 41 1 1
2006 Labour 7 26 6 12
2002 Labour - 35 16 -
1998 Labour - 41 9 -
1994 Labour - 43 7 -
1990 Liberal Democrat - 20 30 -
1986 Liberal/S.D.P. Alliance - 24 26 -
1982 Labour - 31 18 1
1978 Labour - 43 7 -
1974 Labour - 60 - -
1971 Labour - 60 - -
1968 Labour - 57 - 3
1964 Labour - 55 - 5

List of councillors

The councillors as of 12 June 2015 are as follows:[10]

Councillor Political party Ward
Khales Uddin Ahmed Labour Bromley North
Ohid Ahmed Independent Group Lansbury
Rajib Ahmed Labour Lansbury
Suluk Ahmed Independent Group Spitalfields & Banglatown
Sabina Akhtar Labour Stepney Green
Mahbub Alam Independent Group St Dunstan's
Shah Alam Independent Group Mile End
Amina Ali Labour Bow East
Shahed Ali Independent Group Whitechapel
Abdul Asad Independent Group Whitechapel
Craig Aston Conservative Limehouse
Asma Begum Labour Bow West
Rachel Blake Labour Bow East
Chris Chapman Conservative Blackwall & Cubitt Town
Dave Chesterton Labour Blackwall & Cubitt Town
Gulam Kibria Choudhury Independent Group Poplar
Andrew Cregan Labour Island Gardens
Julia Dockerill Conservative St Katharine's & Wapping
David Edgar Labour Mile End
Marc Francis Labour Bow East
Amy Whitelock Gibbs Labour Bethnal Green
Peter Golds Conservative Island Gardens
Shafiqul Haque Independent Group Bethnal Green
Clare Harrisson Labour St Peter's
Danny Hassell Labour Bromley South
Sirajul Islam Labour Bethnal Green
Denise Jones Labour St Katharine's & Wapping
Aminur Khan Independent Group Whitechapel
Rabina Khan Independent Shadwell
Shiria Khatun Labour Lansbury
Abjol Miah Independent Group St Peter's
Ayas Miah Labour St Dunstan's
Harun Miah Independent Group Shadwell
Md. Maium Miah Independent Group Canary Wharf
Mohammed Mufti Miah Independent Group Bromley North
Abdul Mukit Labour Weavers
Muhammad Ansar Mustaquim Independent Group St Peter's
Joshua Peck Labour Bow West
John Pierce Labour Weavers
Oliur Rahman Independent Group Stepney Green
Gulam Robbani Independent Group Spitalfields & Banglatown
Candida Ronald Labour Blackwall & Cubitt Town
Rachael Saunders Labour Mile End
Helal Uddin Labour Bromley South
Andrew Wood Conservative Canary Wharf

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-33105311
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Tower_Hamlets_London_Borough_Council&oldid=203800"