Robin Wales
| Sir Robin Wales | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Newham | |
|
Assumed office 2 May 2002 |
|
| Preceded by | New office |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
18 January 1955 Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland |
| Political party | Labour |
| Website | newham.gov.uk/mayor |
Sir Robert Andrew "Robin" Wales (born 18 January 1955) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the directly elected mayor of the London Borough of Newham since 2002. 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.
During his mayoralty he has 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.
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 are 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.
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