Robin Wales

Robin Wales

Sir Robin Andrew Wales (born 1955) is a Labour Party politician who has, since 2002, served as Mayor of the London Borough of Newham. He was Leader of Newham Council from 1995 to 2002 and a Councillor 1982-86; and 1992-95.

Wales became the first Labour directly elected Mayor in England in 2002. He was re-elected in 2006 and most recently, in May 2010, won a third consecutive term, increasing his vote by more than 20 per cent. Under his leadership, improving the economic prosperity of Newham’s residents has been a consistent priority.

Wales made a number of pledges in the last ten years, including: a £5million investment in Workplace, an employment service; a housing allocations system based upon waiting time; a shared equity scheme to assist families get onto the property ladder; provision of free school meals for all Newham primary school children; a reading initiative which commits to a minimum 90 per cent literacy target by 2014; and a music education offer which gives all ten year olds the chance to learn a musical instrument with two years free tuition.

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 sixty per cent of the Games are to take place in the London Borough of Newham. From the beginning the London 2012 bid team and its supporters, including Wales, pointed to the potential for building a successful Olympic Legacy as the driving force behind and the social imperative underpinning the campaign to bring the Games to east London.