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 Election - Mayor
- Notice of Election - Councillors
Notice of poll
Mayor
Borough Ward
- Bethnal Green East - Notice of Poll
- Bethnal Green West - Notice of Poll
- Blackwall & Cubitt Town - Notice of Poll
- Bow East - Notice of Poll
- Bow West - Notice of Poll
- Bromley North - Notice of Poll
- Bromley South - Notice of Poll
- Canary Wharf - Notice of Poll
- Island Gardens - Notice of Poll
- Lansbury - Notice of Poll
- Limehouse - Notice of Poll
- Mile End - Notice of Poll
- Poplar - Notice of Poll
- Shadwell - Notice of Poll
- Spitalfields & Banglatown - Notice of Poll
- St Dunstan’s - Notice of Poll
- Stepney Green - Notice of Poll
- St Katharine's & Wapping - Notice of Poll
- Weavers - Notice of Poll
- Whitechapel - Notice of Poll
Notice of Election agents
- Notice of Election agents names and addresses - Borough
- Notice of Election Agents names and offices - Mayor
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
Mayor
Borough Wards
- Bethnal Green East
- Bethnal Green West
- Blackwall & Cubitt Town
- Bow East
- Bow West
- Bromley North
- Bromley South
- Canary Wharf
- Island Gardens
- Lansbury
- Limehouse
- Mile End
- Poplar
- Shadwell
- Spitalfields & Banglatown
- St Dunstan’s
- Stepney Green
- St Katharine's & Wapping
- Weavers
- Whitechapel
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
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 Cllrs will commence on Saturday 9 May 2026 starting at 8.30am at the same location.
Access to the verification and count is strictly by authorised photographed ticket only.
Media attending the count
The media are welcome to attend the verification and counts on Friday 8 May 2026 and Saturday 9 May 2026. If you are interested in attending, please email communications@towerhamlets.gov.uk before the deadline on Wednesday 29 April 2026 for details of the information you will need to provide and the process to apply for access.
We will do our best to accommodate every request to attend the count. However, due to restrictions of the venue capacity, we cannot guarantee entry for everyone, and entry is only at the behest of the Returning Officer and not guaranteed.
For those who cannot attend or do not get authorisation, we will update the results as they occur on this website and will provide a breakdown of the election results and access to downloadable high-resolution images to use post-election.
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.