Robin Wales

Sir
Robin Wales
Mayor of Newham
In office
6 May 2002 – 6 May 2018
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byRokhsana Fiaz
Leader of Newham Council
In office
1995 – 5 May 2002
Preceded byMike Brown
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Member of Newham Council
In office
9 July 1992 – 2 May 2002
WardLittle Ilford (1992–1994)
Manor Park (1994–1998)
Canning Town and Grange (1998–2002)
In office
6 May 1982 – 8 May 1986
WardCastle
Personal details
Born
Robert Andrew Wales

(1955-01-18) 18 January 1955 (age 69)
Kilmarnock, Scotland
Political partyLabour
Alma materGlasgow 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]

  1. ^ "Biography". Newham Council. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  2. ^ Stevenson, Alexander (2013). The Public Sector: Managing The Unmanageable. Kogan Page Limited. ISBN 978-0-7494-6777-7.
  3. ^ Gray, John. "Rokhsana Fiaz Wins - She is the Newham Directly Elected Labour Mayoral Candidate 2018". Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Sir Robin Wales - Senior Adviser on Local Government, Skills and Housing". Retrieved 19 August 2020.