Petition details
Hold a referendum on 6th May 2021 to replace the ‘Directly Elected Mayor and a cabinet’ system by a ‘Leader and cabinet’ system
A referendum was held and a majority voted to establish a Directly Elected Mayor on 6 May 2010. The first election for a Directly Elected Mayor occurred on 21 October 2010.
The Localism Act 2011 permits a referendum to be held to change the system of governance in a Local Authority. Where a local authority has changed their governance arrangements following a referendum, a further referendum on changing the governance arrangements can take place after 10 years has elapsed.
The people of Tower Hamlets should have a choice on whether to
continue with the ‘Directly Elected Mayor and a
cabinet’ system or revert to the ‘Leader and
Cabinet’ system. The people of Tower Hamlets voted in 2010
without the experience of the Executive Mayoralty. Now that the
people of Tower Hamlets have experienced the Executive Mayoralty
for 10 years, the people should be given the opportunity to review
and decide which form of governance is best for Tower
Hamlets.
This Petition ran from 12/10/2020 to 16/12/2020 and has now finished.
505 people signed this Petition.
Council response
Thank you for your petition titled - Hold a Referendum on 6 May
2021 to replace the ‘Directly Elected Mayor and a Cabinet
System’ by a ‘Leader and Cabinet’ System.
On 18 November 2020, Council resolved to hold a referendum on 6 May
2021 to give residents the choice of the ‘Directly Elected
Mayor and a Cabinet System’ or a ‘Leader and
Cabinet’ System. Minutes of the meeting and a copy of the
report that was presented to Council on the day can be found in the
following link below at point 10 of the Agenda.
http://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=309&MId=11602&Ver=4
Yours sincerely
Asmat Hussain (Ms)
Corporate Director Governance & Monitoring Officer