Sir Robin Wales | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Newham | |
| In office 6 May 2002 – 6 May 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Rokhsana Fiaz |
| Leader of Newham Council | |
| In office 1995 – 5 May 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Brown |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Member of Newham Council | |
| In office 9 July 1992 – 2 May 2002 | |
| Ward | Little Ilford (1992–1994) Manor Park (1994–1998) Canning Town and Grange (1998–2002) |
| In office 6 May 1982 – 8 May 1986 | |
| Ward | Castle |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Andrew Wales 18 January 1955 Kilmarnock, Scotland |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | Glasgow University (BSc) |
Sir Robert Andrew "Robin" Wales (born 18 January 1955) is a British Labour Party politician who served as Mayor of Newham from 2002 to 2018. Prior to taking up that newly created role, he was leader of Newham council since 1995, having been a councillor from 1982 to 1986 and 1992 to 2002.[1]
Wales became Labour's first directly elected mayor in England in 2002.[2] He was re-elected in 2006, 2010 and 2014. In 2018 he was replaced as Labour's candidate for mayor by Custom House councillor Rokhsana Fiaz, who won with 861 votes in a ballot of Labour Party members to Wales’ 503.[3]
During his mayoralty he said that improving the economic prosperity of Newham's residents has been a priority. In his role as mayor, Wales' visibility has arguably increased since London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, as more than 60% of the Games took place in Newham. However, he has also been involved in a number of controversies during his time as mayor.
He currently works with the centre-right think tank Policy Exchange.[4]