DHAKA: Lutfur Rahman, a Bangladeshi-born British national, has been re-elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets after a close and fractious election campaign.

Lutfur, standing under a Tower Hamlets First ticket, received 52 per cent of the vote with 37,395 votes, and will serve as Mayor for the next four year after a close fighting with Labour candidate John Biggs.

Labour rival John Biggs received 34,143 votes, 6,500 from postal voters.

An independent mayor in the east London borough of Tower Hamlets was on the verge of a surprising re-election victory on Saturday morning despite an official government inquiry into his handing of the borough's finances, reports the guardian.

Victory will ensure that the Bangladeshi-born mayor will maintain control of a £1.2bn budget. 

Last month, the communities secretary sent in auditors to scrutinise his administration following claims that he is favouring his associates and the Bangladeshi and Somali communities with grants and the sale of council properties.

The turnout for the mayoral election was 47.58% – nearly double the percentage who voted when Rahman's first victory in 2010.

According to count sources, Rahman gained around 36,000 first preference votes while Biggs only managed around 27,000. Labour Party sources said it would be "next to impossible" to overturn such a margin on second preference votes from the other eight candidates.

 Rahman, a former solicitor who has lived in the borough since he was eight, was Labour leader of the borough council from 2008 until 2010.

The result confirms Tower Hamlets as one of the most unpredictable of boroughs which can be swung by a mobilised and active Bangladeshi community.

British Bangladeshis comprise some 32% of the borough's population and slightly outnumber those classified as White British.

BDST: 1359 HRS, MAY 24 , 2014