Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman has been thrown out of office after a sensational court judgement found him guilty of corrupt and illegal practices.
It means the election has been declared void after a judge found Rahman guilty of corrupt and illegal practices by an Election Court judge.
Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey, who sat as a judge, said Lutfur Rahman played "race"and "religious" cards and was guilty of "corrupt practice".
Mawrey added that the May 2014 mayoral election will be run again and Rahman, who had been elected for a second term in the east London borough, would be "incapable" of standing in it.
As a result, Lutfur Rahman has been ordered to pay £250,000 costs.
Today’s judgment has come as a shock – the Mayor strongly denies any wrongdoing and had full confidence in the justice system, and so this result has been surprising to say the least.
Statement issued on behalf of Lutfur Rahman Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said:
I sent in Commissioners into the dysfunctional mayoral administration following the mismanagement of public money and the breakdown of democratic accountability.
An independent Election Court has now found the Mayor and his agents guilty of corrupt practices, including bribery and the abuse of public money.
This judgment vindicates our action to intervene.
The immediate priority of the Commissioners must be to ensure a free and fair election takes place on 7 May.
I will now ask the Commissioners whether further resources or powers are necessary to help them stamp out this culture of corruption in Tower Hamlets.
The Commissioners’ powers may need to be extended in the interim before any by-election.
The police also need to take steps to stop further corrupt practices following this damning judgement.
We must also challenge those who seek to spread further division in light of the ruling.
There can be no place for rotten boroughs in 21st Century Britain.
Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Eric Pickles Credit: PA Labour mayor candidate and London Assembly politician John Biggs said after the ruling:
Today's ruling... is a victory for honest politics. By setting out to break the rules and going to extraordinary lengths to win last May's mayoral election, Lutfur Rahman and his allies robbed the people of Tower Hamlets of the free and fair mayoral election they deserved and betrayed everyone in our community who trusted and voted for him.
People from across our community have been badly let down by the mayor. After five years of abuse of public funds and public trust, it's time that residents have a council that is again on their side, that restores faith in free and fair elections and heals divisions in our community.
The mayoral election will now be re-run. It will be an opportunity for all the people of our borough to vote to reject, once and for all, the kind of corrupt politics that the petitioners, this Election Court and the Commissioner's judgment has exposed.
I will do anything I can to help restore trust and confidence in local democracy in Tower Hamlets and bring about reconciliation in our diverse community, to heal the rancour and bitterness that has built up in the borough in the last five years.For too long the borough has been dragged down by the unseemly conduct of Lutfur Rahman's administration and has become a byword for all the wrong things.
Enough is enough - it's time to get democracy and accountability back in Tower Hamlets and restore trust and confidence in our politics.
John Biggs, Labour mayor candidate 