[1][2] Since the 2014 election the makeup of the borough council has changed considerably, with the second-placed Tower Hamlets First party removed from the Electoral Commission's register of political parties following election court findings that Tower Hamlets First did not operate any responsible financial scheme,[3] nor in the manners as submitted in its registration as a political party,[4] Lutfur Rahman's re-election to the post of mayor was declared void, and the subsequent by-election was won by John Biggs of the Labour Party.

The Labour Party controlled the council from the time of the by-election in June 2015 until one of its councillors defected to the Liberal Democrats in February 2017 over Brexit.

[5] Another of Labour's councillors, who served as the Speaker of the Council, was suspended by the party for 10 months in 2016, and again in March 2018, ending his term as an Independent; he went into the election as a candidate for People's Alliance of Tower Hamlets.

[7] In October 2018, Pappu was suspended from the Labour group on the council on following a tirade of antisemitic posts on his social media.

[16] In October 2018, Khan joined the Liberal Democrats after the People's Alliance of Tower Hamlets folded.