Sir Robert Andrew "Robin" Wales (born 18 January 1955) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the directly elected mayor of the London Borough of Newham from 2002 to 2018. Prior to taking up that newly created role, he was leader of Newham council since 1995, having been a councillor from 1982 to 1986 and 1992 to 2002.
Wales became Labour's first directly elected mayor in England in 2002. He was re-elected in 2006, 2010 and 2014. In 2018 he was replaced as Labour's candidate for mayor by Custom House councillor Rokhsana Fiaz, who won with 861 votes in a ballot of Labour Party members to Wales’ 503.
During his mayoralty he said that improving the economic prosperity of Newham's residents has been a priority. In his role as mayor, Wales' visibility has arguably increased since London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, as more than 60% of the Games took place in Newham. However, he has also been involved in a number of controversies during his time as mayor.
He currently works with the centre-right think tank Policy Exchange.
Background and early career
Wales was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, on 18 January 1955. He spent his childhood in Kilmarnock, attending Kilmarnock Academy. He went on to study at Glasgow University and graduated with a BSc in chemistry.
Wales joined the Labour Party in 1970, aged 15. He served as chairman of Glasgow University Labour Club in 1975–76. He chaired Scottish Labour Students (SOLS) in 1976–77. SOLS members were renowned for their wresting back control of the National Organisation of Labour Students (NOLS) from the Militant tendency in 1975. Wales was part of the contingent of SOLS which famously took the "ice pick express" (a bus covered in posters of an ice pick – the weapon used to kill Trotsky) to the 1976 NOLS Conference at Lancaster University.
Newham council
In 1978, Wales moved to the London Borough of Newham and in 1982 was elected to the council, representing Castle ward. He did not contest the 1986 or 1990 elections but was returned as councillor for Little Ilford ward in a 1992 by-election. At the 1994 election he again stood successfully, this time in Manor Park ward, and in 1995 Wales was elected leader of the council. In 1998 he was elected as councillor for Canning Town and Grange ward.
From 2000 to 2006, Wales also served as chairman of the Association of London Government, known as London Councils since 2006. London Councils is a think-tank and lobbying organisation which serves the interests of the 32 London borough councils, plus the City of London Corporation. Wales was recognised in the 2000 Birthday Honours, receiving a knighthood for his services to local government.
Mayor of Newham
In 2000 local authorities were granted the opportunity to directly elect an executive mayor with far-reaching decision-making powers. In this model of governance the mayor is directly elected by voters in the borough to serve for a period of four years. The elected mayor then chooses their cabinet, which must consist of no more than 10 councillors.
In 2002 Newham held a referendum and voted for the replacement of the traditional leader and cabinet model with the new directly elected mayoral system. Wales became Labour's first directly elected mayor in England. He polled 20,384 votes (50.8%).
He was re-elected in 2006, receiving 28,655 first preference votes (47.9%), with a further 2,983 second preferences; he achieved 68.2% in the final tally. Wales easily won a third term in 2010, with 64,748 votes (68.0%).
Wales was part of the London 2012 Board which was involved in the Olympic and Paralympic Games bid for London. Social regeneration was at the heart of the London bid and was instrumental in securing the right to host in 2005.
Wales has held a position on the Boards of both the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) and the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), which was renamed the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) in 2012. He also chaired the Six Host Boroughs group which represented the interests of those boroughs most affected by the 2012 Games.
In 2014 Wales was elected for a fourth term as mayor. He received 47,095 votes (61.2%).