Rokhsana Fiaz

Rokhsana Fiaz
OBE
Mayor of Newham
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 May 2018 (2018-05-07)
Preceded byRobin Wales
Personal details
Political partyLabour Co-operative

Rokhsana Fiaz OBE is a Labour and Co-operative Party politician serving as Mayor of Newham.

Fiaz was elected as a councillor for the Newham ward of Custom House in 2014. Ahead of the 2018 mayoral election, following protracted disagreements within the local party, the incumbent Labour Mayor of Newham (and the first directly elected Mayor of Newham) Sir Robin Wales was not automatically re-selected as the Labour Party's candidate. In the open selection that followed, Fiaz defeated Wales for the Labour nomination by 861 votes to 503.[1]

Fiaz was subsequently elected mayor in May 2018, receiving 73.4% of the first preference votes (53,214 votes).[2] She is the first directly elected female mayor for any London borough.[2]

Fiaz promised to hold a referendum on the direct elected mayoral system[3] and this took place in May 2021. Voters decided by 56% to 44% to retain the system.[4]

In the local elections of May 2022 Rokhsana Fiaz was returned as mayor for second term, securing 35,696 votes (56.2%).[5]

She was conferred with an Honorary Fellowship by UCL in 2022 in recognition of her political services.[6]

Personal life

Fiaz was born in Mile End Hospital in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to parents who had moved to London from Pakistan in the 1960s.[7]

Honours

In the 2009 Birthday Honours, Fiaz was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to Black and Minority Ethnic People."[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "Newham mayor Sir Robin Wales deselected after 23 years". BBC News. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b Long, Rhiannon. "Local Elections: Newham elects Rokhsana Fiaz to be its mayor". Newham Recorder.
  3. ^ "New Labour mayor Rohksana Fiaz plans to abolish her role". BBC News. 4 May 2018.
  4. ^ Latif, Sheeza. "Newham decides: The results May 6 2021 Election". Newham Council. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Mayor of Newham", Wikipedia, 20 August 2022, retrieved 9 January 2023
  6. ^ UCL (16 July 2021). "Leading figures in education and society awarded Honorary Degree and Fellowships". IOE - Faculty of Education and Society. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Mayor of Newham". Newham Council. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  8. ^ "No. 59090". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 12 June 2009. p. 10.
  9. ^ Adebayo, Adeolu (19 March 2018). "Rokhsana Fiaz upsets the odds to defeat Newham Mayor". Operation Black Vote. Retrieved 22 October 2023.


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