Rokhsana Fiaz

{{Short description|Mayor of Newham}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2019}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix =

|name = Rokhsana Fiaz

|honorific-suffix = OBE

|office= Mayor of Newham

|term_start = {{Start date|2018|05|07|df=y}}

|predecessor = Robin Wales

|party = Labour Co-operative

}}

Rokhsana Fiaz {{postnominals|country=GBR|OBE}} is a Labour and Co-operative Party politician serving as Mayor of Newham.

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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-43421313|title=Newham mayor Sir Robin Wales deselected after 23 years|date=16 March 2018|publisher=BBC News|access-date=14 October 2019|language=en-GB}}

Fiaz was subsequently elected mayor in May 2018, receiving 73.4% of the first preference votes (53,214 votes).{{cite web|last1=Long|first1=Rhiannon|title=Local Elections: Newham elects Rokhsana Fiaz to be its mayor|url=http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/seasonal/election/local-elections-newham-elects-rokhsana-fiaz-to-be-its-mayor-1-5505024|website=Newham Recorder}} She is the first directly elected female mayor for any London borough.

Fiaz promised to hold a referendum on the direct elected mayoral system{{cite news|title=New Labour mayor Rohksana Fiaz plans to abolish her role|publisher=BBC News |date=4 May 2018 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-44003878}} and this took place in May 2021. Voters decided by 56% to 44% to retain the system.{{Cite web |last=Latif |first=Sheeza |title=Newham decides: The results May 6 2021 Election |url=https://www.newham.gov.uk/news/article/625/newham-decides-the-results-may-6-2021-election |access-date=2023-01-09 |publisher=Newham Council |language=en}}

In the local elections of May 2022 Rokhsana Fiaz was returned as mayor for 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.{{Cite web |last=UCL |date=2021-07-16 |title=Leading figures in education and society awarded Honorary Degree and Fellowships |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2021/jul/leading-figures-education-and-society-awarded-honorary-degree-and-fellowships |access-date=2024-09-10 |website=IOE – Faculty of Education and Society |language=en}}