result

i didn't want tower hamlets to have a mayor. seemed to be a waste of time to me, not to mention a lot of money and power in the hands of one individual.
sadly at the general election more of the local electorate disagreed with me and they said they wanted one.

we voted on thursday for who would get the job. from the little bit of chit and chat i had with people turnout had been disappointing and seemed to be just one part of the local community.

results were

helal uddin bbbas, labour party - 11,254

(i voted for him)
alan duffell, green party - 2,300
(he got my second preference vote)

john david macleod griffiths, liberal democrats - 2,800
(doing surprisingly well considering everyone now knows they are just traitors)
neil anthony king, conservative party - 5,348
(why anyone voted for them is beyond me)

lutfur rahman, independent - 23,283
(he used to be labour but was kicked out, ken livingstone campaigned for him and respect gave him a clear run)

interestingly the local population is something like 210,000 people. so you can see from the numbers that frankly the majority didn't care.

i suppose i should be thankful that old 3g (gorgeous george galloway) didn't stand, not sure i could have stomached him winning, as much as i like him as an orator i really didn't want him getting money from the local purse.

so now it is a case of seeing what good a local mayor does for us and just what lutfur rahman will do with his position. he has put forward an interesting and ambitious programme, let's hope he comes good with it.