John Biggs (politician)

John Robert Biggs (born 19 November 1957) is a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician who has been Mayor of Tower Hamlets since 2015.

For other people named John Biggs, see John Biggs (disambiguation).

John Biggs
Biggs speaking following his 2008 re-election to the London Assembly
Mayor of Tower Hamlets
Assumed office
12 June 2015
Preceded byLutfur Rahman
Member of the London Assembly
for City and East
In office
4 May 2000 – 7 May 2016
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byUnmesh Desai
Majority82,744
Personal details
Born (1957-11-19) 19 November 1957
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour Co-operative
Spouse(s)
Christine Sibley
​
​
(m. 1993; div. 2015)​
ResidenceWapping
Alma materUniversity of Bristol
Websitehttp://www.johnbiggs.org

Early life

He was educated at Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet and graduated from the University of Bristol in 1979.[1]

Tower Hamlets Council and London Assembly

Biggs is a former member of the London Assembly representing the City and East constituency from 2000 until 2016. He was first elected to Tower Hamlets London Borough Council in 1988 and elected leader in 1994. He has worked as a financial analyst in the City of London, and as director of a political pressure group. He has previously studied Chemistry, Computer Science and Law.[2]

Mayor of Tower Hamlets

2014

He was the Labour candidate for directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets in 2014, receiving backing from Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone.[3] Livingstone supported incumbent Lutfur Rahman in 2010, but shifted his support to Biggs after an investigation into allegations of "mismanagement and fraud" by the current mayor's team at the council.[4] However, Livingstone also remained supportive of Rahman.[5] Biggs came second in the election to Rahman,[6] but the election was subsequently over-turned by an election court.

2015

On 11 June 2015 Biggs was elected mayor of Tower Hamlets after Rahman was found by the court to have broken election law and was stripped of office. Biggs beat independent Rabina Khan, who was endorsed by the disqualified Rahman.[7] This led to government appointed commissioners being brought in to the council - the final government direction was lifted in 2017.

2018

Biggs was re-elected at the 2018 election and at the same time Labour increased its number of councillors to 42 out of 45. As a mayor, he has campaigned for improving residents' safety, having committed to investing in additional council funded police officers and youth services, along with a post at the Royal London to work with victims and perpetrators of violence.[8]

References
  1. "Biggs, John Robert". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 10 December 2017. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  2. Biggs, John. "About John Biggs". Greater London Authority. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  3. Virtue, Rob (9 April 2014). "Ken Livingstone backs John Biggs in Tower Hamlets mayoral vote". The Wharf. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2014. John's represented the most diverse constituency in Britain with integrity. He worked with me for the eight years I was Mayor, throughout which I was impressed with his honesty, competence and ability to unite communities. I'm endorsing John Biggs for Mayor of Tower Hamlets.
  4. Barnett, Adam (9 April 2014). "Ken Livingstone backing Labour's John Biggs for Tower Hamlets Mayor". East London Advertiser. Retrieved 13 April 2014. The announcement comes after a team of government-appointed auditors visited the Town Hall on Friday to launch an investigation into allegations of “mismanagement and fraud” at the council.
  5. de Peyer, Robin (28 November 2014). "Ken Livingstone should be kicked out of Labour Party for supporting Lutfur Rahman, members say". Evening Standard.
  6. "Election results for Tower Hamlets: Tower Hamlets Mayoral Election – Thursday, 22nd May, 2014". Tower Hamlets. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  7. de Peyer, Robin. "Ex-Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman launches fundraising drive for legal challenge". Evening Standard. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  8. Biggs, John. "Opinion: Must work hard to keep community safe". East London Advertiser. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
Civic offices
Preceded by
Lutfur Rahman		 Mayor of Tower Hamlets
12 June 2015		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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