Posters of Newham Labour chief taken down ahead of crunch poll

Posters championing a London borough mayor ahead of a crunch election have been taken down by council staff after a series of complaints.

Dozens of banners showing photos of Sir Robin Wales with slogans about freezing council tax and fighting crime appeared across Newham on railings and scaffolding.

With Sir Robin, 63, facing a contest for his job for the first time in 23 years in May’s local elections, critics questioned the Labour authority on the timing of the posters and whether they were a fair use of taxpayers’ money.

Sir Robin was elected council leader in 1995 and became the borough’s first directly elected mayor in 2002.

However, as his fifth term approached, local members, supported by Sir Robin, voted for an open contest and councillor Rokhsana Fiaz has declared that she wants to run against him. She said there was “a strong alertness” within the borough of there being “one person at the top for 23 years”.

A council spokesman said: “A number of banners were put up last week as part of the Newham Does More campaign, which has been running since 2016… As with all other councils, Newham is reviewing all publicity as it approaches the election.”

The council did not provide the cost of the posters or when they were commissioned by the time the Standard went to press.