The London Borough of Tower Hamlets and its council were created under the London Government Act 1963, with the first election held in 1964.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5][6]
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.[7] Tower Hamlets became a local education authority in 1990 when the Inner London Education Authority was dissolved.[8]
From 1986 to 1994 the council experimented with decentralisation of services to seven neighbourhood areas.[9]
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.[10]
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.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13][14] He was thus removed from his office with immediate effect and was also barred from standing for elected office until 2021.[15][16] 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.[17]
Labour's John Biggs won the subsequent mayoral by-election following Rahman's removal in 2015, and retained the post at the 2018 election.[18][19] 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.[20]
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.[21]
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.[22] 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.[23]
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:[24]
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.[29] The elected mayors since 2010 have been:
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.[33]
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.[34][35]
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.[36] In 1993 the council moved to a new town hall at Mulberry Place in the Blackwall area of the borough, remaining there until 2023.[37][38]
^Youngs, Frederic (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. Vol. I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. ISBN0901050679.
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