Aspire Party leader Lutfur Rahman has won the Tower Hamlets borough mayoral election for the second time, but his winning speech was disrupted by another candidate who was removed from the stage by police.
Incumbent Mayor Rahman won with 38.75% of the vote, however during his victory speech he was interrupted by independent candidate Terrence McGrenera who produced a placard saying ‘liar’.
McGrenera was removed from the stage by police and security but told them: “Get your hands off me”.
He came last in the polls with just 524 votes, and it was a disappointing result too for the Conservative and Reform UK representatives.
Rahman’s success was also tainted by a 16.15% slip in popularity, but his victory speech was defiant.
He said: “In the strongest terms I want to condemn some of my opponents who have resorted to politics of the gutter.
“To devise politics, politics of despair to win at any cost, they forget that this is my fourth election.”
Rahman first won his Mayoral campaign in 2014, but was banned from office for five years following an election commissioner finding him guilty of “corrupt and illegal” election practices in 2015 before running again, successfully, in 2022.
Despite the ban Rahman has remained a popular figure in the local community.
He also said: “The fake AI generated videos, the misinformation and lies that some of you propelled once again hasn’t worked.
“You have always been desperate to win at any cost but the people of our borough have always rejected you and they have rejected you once again by giving Aspire the victory.”
In their manifesto the Aspire Party have pledged to “Freeze Council Tax for four years, to protect the poorest from rising living costs” as well as plans to offer free tube, bus and over-ground travel to students from low-income families.
Despite these promises the policy is yet to be financed, although Aspire claim that they will hold talks with TfL over financing the scheme though these are yet to be confirmed.
Labour also dropped in popularity with just 21.3% of the vote share, followed closely by and a new Green Party candidate taking 20.88%, a reflection of London and nationwide local election results.
Before the result was announced a Labour member said: “This is democracy. This is a snapshot in time. We’re going to rebuild, we’re going to rest and we’re going to rebuild.”
The result is another blow for the Labour Party who have suffered heavy losses in local council and mayoral elections across the country with pressure growing on Keir Starmer’s position.
This is a historic election for Tower Hamlets as the first-past-the-post voting system is being implemented for the first time, meaning voters choose only their preferred candidate as opposed to ranking a second placed preference.
It is also the first mayoral election where voters have been required to bring a valid form of ID in order to place their vote.
This year’s turnout of 42.01% is a tiny increase on 2022’s number, but it will ease fears of there being lower voter turnout due to mistrust in the electoral system following the overturning of the result in 2014.
Local council elections in Tower Hamlets will not be counted until tomorrow although it is expected that today’s mayoral results will be a pretty accurate reflection of those results.
You can check out all of North East Londoner’s 2026 local election here.
Photos Eddie Monkman
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