Although Tower Hamlets has the wealth distribution profile of a least developed country, the borough has made big improvements in education, housing and other social services, both under Labour control and now under an ex-Labour executive Mayor.
Even so, in the media it has become a by-word for corruption and incompetence, but that reputation owes less to reality than to perceptions fanned by a disturbing alliance of New(ish) Labour and old-style stitch ups, with conservative little Englanders epitomised by the Telegraph and Mail.
