LIVE: John Biggs declared Mayor of Tower Hamlets at 5am after tense second-preference vote count

New mayor of Tower Hamlets John Biggs speaks to the press after his acceptance speech. Pic: Kara Fox

Labour Party candidate John Biggs was elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets this morning by a margin of 6,370 votes over runner-up Rabina Khan.

The result was announced shortly before 5am following a second-preference vote count from which all candidates but Biggs and Khan had been eliminated.

Biggs received 32,754 votes with Khan receiving 26,384. In his acceptance speech, Biggs thanked Khan and emphasised that the two needed to be ready to work together.

As she conceded the vote, Khan paid tribute to her supporters and said, “This is not the end.”

Yesterday’s mayoral election was a re-run of the 2014 election, won by independent Lutfur Rahman. Rahman was removed from office in April after the Electoral Commission found him guilty of electoral malpractice.

At 37.7 per cent, voter turnout was down by almost 10 per cent on 2014.

For our full election coverage, see our live blog below.

04:51	Khan leaves in a hurry Despite indicating that she would speak to Eastlondonlines before she left, Rabina Khan made what appeared to be a somewhat hurried exit from the count room after the final concession speech. Independent candidate Rabina Khan left the building quickly after losing the bid for mayor of Tower Hamlets. Pic: Kara Fox
04:48	RESULT: JOHN BIGGS ELECTED MAYOR OF TOWER HAMLETS Final result for first preference vote John Biggs: 27,255 Rabina Khan: 25,763 Final result for second preference vote John Biggs: 5,499 Rabina Khan: 621 New Tower Hamlets mayor John Biggs during his acceptance speech. Pic: Kara Fox With both first and second preference votes counted, Biggs is elected with 32,754 votes with Khan the runner-up on 26,384 votes. Biggs wins by a margin of 6,370 votes. Labour party supporters cheer as the results of the Tower Hamlets mayoral race are declared. Pic: Kara Fox Independent candidate Rabina Khan during concession speech. Pic: Kara Fox
04:15	Golds: “He can’t run the borough in a tribal fashion” Conservative candidate Peter Golds, who finished third in the mayoral election, said: “It’s clear that a large number of our second preference votes have gone to Labour.” He also offered advice to Labour candidate and frontrunner Biggs on a potential win: “He can’t run the borough in a tribal fashion. He has to ensure that he draws in Tower Hamlets First by the back door.” Conservative candidate and councillor Peter Golds. Pic: Kara Fox
04:13	Labour press officer: “They all want to stop Rabina” A Labour Party press officer told Eastlondonlines: “It’s no secret that all the other parties are secretly backing Labour, because they all want to stop Rabina.” He added that he believes all the other parties want to see the mayorship go to a “mainstream” party candidate. We saw Rabina Khan huddled with her agents in what appeared to be a tense strategy discussion. Khan told an Eastlondonlines reporter that she would speak with us after the final result is in.
04:01	It’s official: count moves to second preference votes John Biggs and Rabina Khan are named as the two candidates who are through to the run-off count. Neil King, Chairman of Poplar and Limehouse Conservative Association, told Eastlondonlines that Conservative candidate Peter Golds finished third, ahead of Green Party candidate John Foster in fourth. He said all candidates except for Biggs, Khan and Golds have lost their deposits. The announcement that the mayoral election will go to second preference votes. Pic: David Blood
03:42	Count looking likely to go to second preference Though the Returning Officer hasn’t announced it yet, the Tower Hamlets Council communications team say they’re very confident the count will go to second preference. An announcement is expected imminently.
03:15	Candidates and agents being paged again Candidates were requested to report to returning officer. The results of the count are imminent. Pic: David Blood Last time this seemed to lead nowhere in particular.
03:06	Rushanara Ali joins the party John Biggs and MP for Bethnal Green and Bow Rushanara Ali share a moment before the election results are announced. Pic: Kara Fox
02:51	Preliminary result imminent? Rabina Khan waits for the preliminary results of the mayoral election. Pic: Kara Fox
02:50	Candidates and agents summoned Candidates and agents are being paged. As it’s still a little early for a result, this is likely to indicate that the Tower Hamlets mayoral election will go to a supplementary voting (second preference) stage.
02:39	Biggs in the house John Biggs has entered the count room to a round of applause from a well-choreographed gathering of Labour staffers. Labour Party candidate John Biggs (centre) arrives at the count with supporters in tow. Pic: Kara Fox
02:32	John Biggs expected to arrive shortly Activity increasing in the media area. Chatter indicates Labour candidate and perceived frontrunner John Biggs is about to arrive.
02:06	Rabina Khan arrives at count Independent candidate Rabina Khan has arrived in the count room. We understand that she is not currently giving press interviews.
01:46	CONFIRMED: Labour wins Stepney Green council election Sabina Akhtar is Labour’s newest councillor, giving Labour a one-seat majority on Tower Hamlets Council. Labour’s Sabina Akhtar secured the win in Stepney Green Ward. Pic: Kara Fox Labour Party staffer overheard talking on the phone: “It’s a good barometer of what’s going to happen later.” Labour supporters cheer their party’s result in Stepney Green. Pic: Kara Fox Labour’s Sabina Akhtar won the council seat in Stepney Green with a 4.3 per cent majority, narrowly defeating independent candidate Abu Talha Chowdhury by 171 votes. Sabina Akhtar speaks to members of the media after her win. Pic: Kara Fox
01:39	LABOUR REPORTED TO HAVE WON STEPNEY GREEN Labour Councillor for Acton Central Dan Crawford and others are tweeting that Labour’s Sabina Akhtar has taken the Stepney Green council seat from the now-delisted Tower Hamlets First party. Labour have won the Stepney Green by-election. Congratulations Sabina Akhtar #labgain #towerhamlets — Dan Crawford (@dancrawford85) June 12, 2015 LAB gain Stepney Green ward (#TowerHamlets) from THF. Gives #Labour overall control and a very encouraging sign for them in the mayoral race — NumbrCrunchrPolitics (@NCPoliticsUK) June 12, 2015
01:36	STEPNEY GREEN RESULT IMMINENT Members of the press have been called to hear the announcement of the Stepney Green result.
00:50	All eyes on the count Political staffers watch the mayoral election count at the ExCel Centre. Pic: Tower Hamlets Council
00:51	Substantial fall in turnout in mayoral election With the verification process complete, we can confirm that the turnout for the mayoral election is 37.7 per cent, marking a fall of almost 10 per cent on the 2014 election (47.6 per cent). Counting of ballots is now underway. Voter turnout results for the Tower Hamlets mayoral election were announced to be 37.73 per cent. Pic: Kara Fox Members of the media take note of the 37.73 per cent voter turnout, a 9.9 per cent drop on the 2014 mayoral election. Pic: Kara Fox
00:50	TOWER HAMLETS MAYORAL TURNOUT FIGURES Votes cast: 69,643 Electorate: 184,563 Turnout: 37.73 per cent
00:50	TOWER HAMLETS MAYORAL TURNOUT IMMINENT Candidates and agents are being paged to report to the Acting Returning Officer.
00:50	Stepney Green turnout down more than 7 per cent The turnout in the election for councillor for Stepney Green has fallen by more than 7 per cent on 2014. Alibor Choudhury was the victor in that race. Considered to be Lutfur Rahman’s “right-hand man”, Choudhury was removed from office along with Rahman following The Electoral Commission’s ruling in April.
00:50	See, told you Verification for the Stepney Green by-election is complete. Pic: Kara Fox
00:34	STEPNEY GREEN VERIFICATION COMPLETE Turnout in the election for councillor for Stepney Green ward is confirmed to be 47.37 per cent. Counting continues.
00:07	Making progress We’re hearing that 64 of 75 mayoral ballot boxes have been verified already. This means that they have been approved for counting to begin.
23:34	The parties are here So far we’ve seen Labour, Conservative and UKIP staff keeping a watchful eye on the count. Labour seem to be taking a particular interest, going by the number of red rosettes in the room.
23:13	Pictures from the count The verification process begins. Pic: Kara Fox The verification of the ballot boxes has begun. Police encircle the count tables. Pic: David Blood
22:51	Verification underway 50 teams with three count staff each are now at work verifying the contents of ballot boxes.
22:43	Ballot boxes arriving in the count room Ballot boxes are being brought into the count room from the loading dock. The atmosphere seems relaxed at the moment. Stacks of ballot papers are now being passed along the counting table.
22:34	Police presence at the count Our reporter just counted 12 Metropolitan Police officers enjoying refreshments outside the count room, including one officer with a triple espresso. Clearly they are here for the long haul. The commanding officer on duty at the ExCel Centre declined to comment on the size of the police presence here. Police patrolling the exterior of the ExCeL Centre before the count begins. Pic: David Blood
22:29	Welcome to the live blog Welcome to Eastlondonlines’ live coverage of tonight’s re-run mayoral election count. We’ll be reporting from here at the ExCel Centre in London’s Docklands until the results are finalised in the early hours of Friday morning. Outside the ExCeL Centre where the election count will take place. Pic: Kara Fox