Unlike most English districts, its council is led by a directly-elected mayor, currently Robin Wales. Census information indicates Newham is the most culturally diverse place in the United Kingdom. The council go on to claim it is the most culturally diverse place on Earth.
It is considered part of Outer London for most purposes because the majority of the borough was not in the old County of London. However, economically it is one of the more deprived areas and the council is actively campaigning to have Newham officially considered part of Inner London for all purposes in order to increase the level of funding the borough receives.
Transportation in Newham has seen vast improvement in recent decades with the construction of the Docklands Light Railway and the Jubilee Line Extension with new or improved stations at Canning Town, West Ham and Stratford. Newham is home to London City Airport and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link is being constructed through Newham with a station at Stratford which will offer fast domestic and international train services. The Crossrail scheme will also improve rail connections to several stations in the borough. A further extension to the Docklands Light Railway will serve London City Airport and will connect Newham with Woolwich.
Newham is one of five host boroughs for London's bid for the 2012 Olympics and part of the borough falls within the boundaries of the London Thames Gateway.
