The Mayor of Tower Hamlets was a position first established in 1965 with the creation of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It replaced the mayors of Bethnal Green, Poplar and Stepney.
The post holder is elected at a full council meeting in May of each year, and serves for one municipal year. From 1965, the mayor could be a councillor or alderman, until the position of alderman was abolished in 1978. It is customary for the mayor to have served as the deputy mayor in the preceding year.
In 2010, a directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets was established. The civic mayor position was renamed as the Chair of Council in October 2010 and Speaker of Council in November 2011.[1]