Labour’s John Biggs has been elected mayor of Tower Hamlets in a re-run election to replace dismissed leader Lutfur Rahman.
Biggs finally claimed the post after last year losing to Rahman, who was banned from office after his election victory was declared void due to corrupt and illegal practices.
Biggs won 32,754 votes on a second preference system, beating former member of Rahman’s Tower Hamlets First party, Rabina Khan, who ran as an independent into second place.
Speaking this morning, Biggs said: ‘What is important in Tower Hamlets is that we recognise the events of the past year or more have caused enormous tension and friction in our great borough and we need, under the new mayor, to pull things back together again.
Returning officer duly elects John BIGGS as Mayor of Tower Hamlets #THVotes pic.twitter.com/fG8qTX7Jtw
— Tower Hamlets (@TowerHamletsNow) June 12, 2015
‘Without dwelling too much on the past we should remind ourselves why we are in this position; there was bad behaviour.
‘We need to overcome that, we need to move forwards, we need to recognise that Tower Hamlets is actually quite a magical place... where people come with traditionally quite little and build their dreams,’ Biggs added.
Andy Erlam, who was central in the campaign to overthrow Rahman and ran under the Red-Flag Anti-Corruption banner, came sixth.
Praise for Biggs poured in from Labour leaders, with acting party leader Harriet Harman saying the result meant a new beginning for the town hall.
Congrats @johnbiggs4mayor! Fresh start for Tower Hamlets. @TH_Labour_Party @UKLabour
— Harriet Harman (@HarrietHarman) June 12, 2015
The party’s former shadow communities secretary Hilary Benn also wished Biggs ‘congratulations’.
