We Are Reversing Austerity in London’s Poorest Borough
I became mayor of London’s Tower Hamlets in May 2022. In seven months, I have put local services under public control, given money to poor high school students to continue their education, and proven that austerity is a political choice.
Lutfur Rahman speaks at the Tower Hamlets election count in London, after he was elected mayor of Tower Hamlets on the second round, defeating Labour incumbent John Biggs in the local government elections. May 6, 2022. (Aaron Chown / PA Images via Getty Images)
The London borough of Tower Hamlets, where I have served as mayor since May last year, is a microcosm of Britain as a whole. To its east lies a financial district erected by Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1987 following the Conservative Party’s large-scale deregulation of the city. Surrounding the financial district is a community in which 40 percent of children live in poverty. Wealth has not trickled down, despite bumper profits unleashed by the so-called Big Bang over three decades ago.
The regeneration of the formerly derelict East London docklands relied on a model of regeneration which did little to effectively tackle inequality. In seven months at the helm of Tower Hamlets’ council, the Aspire Party and I have attempted to challenge this model with one of our own. Guided by a commitment to equality and social justice, we have succeeded in starting a reversal of the trend of the past four decades.
How We Got Here
In May 2022, the voters of Tower Hamlets saw past years of smears and misinformation to turn out en masse and vote for a program of real change. By doing so, they not only lent me a sizeable majority and a healthy mandate as mayor of the borough; they also handed our Aspire Party councilors a majority in the council chamber. This was an important act of trust on the part of our local voters because it ensured we were able to avoid the kind of political gridlock that compromises transformative programs, both locally and nationally. Generally speaking, the more radical the program, the sharper the resistance to it.
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