Rokhsana Fiaz

Fiaz was born in Mile End Hospital in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to parents who had moved to London from Pakistan in the 1960s. Fiaz began her studies in law and IT at Wolverhampton, but withdrew and moved back to London due to a family crisis. She subsequently completed a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Goldsmiths, University of London. During university, she became involved in student politics. ==Career==

Fiaz was elected as a councillor for the Newham ward of Custom House in 2014. Ahead of the 2018 mayoral election, following protracted disagreements within the local party, the incumbent Labour Mayor of Newham (and the first directly elected Mayor of Newham) Sir Robin Wales was not automatically re-selected as the Labour Party's candidate. In the open selection that followed, Fiaz defeated Wales for the Labour nomination by 861 votes to 503. Fiaz was subsequently elected mayor in May 2018, receiving 73.4% of the first preference votes (53,214 votes). She is the first directly elected female mayor for any London borough. and this took place in May 2021. Voters decided by 56% to 44% to retain the system. In the local elections of May 2022 Rokhsana Fiaz returned as mayor for a second term, securing 35,696 votes (56.2%). She was conferred with an Honorary Fellowship by UCL in 2022 in recognition of her political services. In July 2025 Fiaz announced that she would not be the Labour candidate for Mayor of Newham in the May 2026 election. ==Honours==

In the 2009 Birthday Honours, Fiaz was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to Black and Minority Ethnic People." ==References==