Lutfur Rahman and Tower Hamlets — an example of why elected mayors don’t work?

Is Eric Pickles about to send government troops into Tower Hamlets? Last night’s Panorama examined Lutfur Rahman, the borough’s independent directly elected mayor, who is accused (amongst other things) of mismanaging public funds to purchase influence within certain communities. The programme outlined how Rahman has allegedly ignored the advice of his own officials on distributing money and more than doubling funds to projects in Tower Hamlets’ Bengali community— of which more than two thirds were responsible for electing him in 2010. Rahman has denied all of the allegations against him, calling the BBC Islamophobic, a charge the BBC has in turn refuted in vigorous terms.

Part of Panorama’s aim was to question whether Rahman’s lack of accountability shows a flaw in the system of elected mayors. They didn’t quite come to a clear conclusion but there is evidence that the checks and balances are slowly working. Firstly, the seriousness of the accusations has drawn the attention of Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, who has announced he will be delving further into the situation:

‘There is a worrying pattern of divisive community politics and mismanagement of council staff and resources by the mayoral administration in Tower Hamlets.