Tower Hamlets Council and Executive Mayor Elections - Thursday 7 May 2026

On Thursday 7 May 2026, elections will take place to elect the council's 45 Borough Ward Councillors and the Tower Hamlets Executive Mayor.

The Notice of Election is scheduled to be published on Monday 30 March 2026 which is the start of the formal timetable.

This details all of the steps and deadlines until polling day which is scheduled for Thursday 7 May 2026.

Formal timetable

View the formal timetable

Notice of election

Notice of poll

Notice of election agents

Mayoral booklet

Mayoral booklet

Nominations

Nominations must be submitted by hand to the Returning Officer in Room TH206 on the second floor of the Town Hall, 160 Whitechapel Road, London, E1 1BJ.

They can only be submitted between 10am and 4pm on each working day from Monday 30 March 2026 to 4pm, Thursday 9 April 2026.

It is recommended that an appointment is made to submit nominations.

Statement of persons nominated

Important dates

The deadline to register to vote is midnight Monday 20 April 2026. You can apply to register to vote on the government website.
the deadline to receive new postal vote applications or to change/cancel an existing postal, proxy or postal proxy vote arrangement is 5pm, Tuesday 21 April 2026
the deadline to receive new proxy vote applications (not postal proxy or emergency proxies) is 5pm, Tuesday 28 April 2026.
Polling day is from 7am until 10pm on Thursday 7 May 2026.
Details of nominated candidates, locations of polling places and other information will be published as the statutory timetable progresses.

The verification/count

The verification of the ballot papers for all polls on Thursday 7 May 2026 will take place in the Platinum Suite, Excel Exhibition Centre, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, London, E16 1XL.

Access to the verification and count is strictly by authorised photographed ticket only.

The verification, the count of ballot papers received only and not the count of votes cast, will start at 8.30am on Friday 8 May 2026.

Once the verification is complete, the count of the votes cast for the Tower Hamlets Executive Mayor will begin on the same day, Friday 8 May 2026. The counting of votes cast for the Executive Mayor is anticipated to commence at 1.30pm and will be held in the same location but the start time will be subject to the verification being completed.

The count of votes cast to elect the Borough Ward Councillors will commence on Saturday 9 May 2026 starting at 8.30am at the same location.

Media accreditation applications for the Tower Hamlets elections counts

Application window closed

The application window to attend the count has now closed. No further applications are being accepted.

We aim to let applicants know whether they have been successful or not by Friday 1 May 2026.

The count for the Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets is on Friday 8 May from 1.30pm. The count for 45 councillors across 20 wards is on Saturday 9 May from 8.30am.

Where media are allowed to attend, it is likely to be only one journalist per outlet unless a camera person is needed.

For those who cannot attend or are not successful in their application, we will update the results on the council’s social media channels and website, along with providing access to images to use post-election.

The counts will take place in the Platinum Suite, Excel Exhibition Centre, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, London, E16 1XL.

Confirmed polling places

Check the polling places that have been confirmed for the election.

Report electoral fraud

Tower Hamlets Returning Officer, The Metropolitan Police, Tower Hamlets Council and the Electoral Commission take prevention of electoral malpractice very seriously.

For more information or to report concerns relating to electoral malpractice please visit our report electoral fraud page.

Further information can be obtained from the electoral services team.