The PwC report on Tower Hamlets highlights fundamentaltensions in local democracy, not always thought throughclearly in new mayoral systems

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government recently appointed commissioners to run the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, following the publication of a Government-commissioned PWC report which was damning about the failings of the current adminstration, led by Mayor Lutfur Rahman. Michael Keith, a former Leader of the Council, argues that the affair highlights some inherent tensions in local and municipal government, which the Mayoral structure is ill-equipped to deal with.