Readers with long memories might recall the shambles of Tower Hamlets’ election night in 2014, when the count took more than five days to complete. The man who was re-elected as mayor that day was Lutfur Rahman who, the following year, earned the dubious distinction of being Britain’s first directly elected mayor to be removed after being found guilty of electoral fraud.
Rahman was slapped with a five-year ban on standing for elected office after the Election Court reported him to be ‘personally guilty’ of ‘corrupt or illegal practices or both.’ Now though, Rahman’s ban is completed, and his former office is up for grabs in May. And, having first reported that the ex-mayor was again featuring on local election material last March, now Steerpike can reveal that Rahman is expected to launch a comeback bid for the mayoralty ‘within weeks’, according to local sources.
Already the disgraced politician is appearing on fresh literature, with the slogan ‘Back Lutfur Rahman’ appearing on newly-dispersed leaflets. His campaign launch is expected within the next fortnight and is likely to be focused on local discontent with the incumbent Labour administration, including its controversial low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) scheme and issues around household waste collection. One resident grumbled to Mr S: ‘At least the bins were emptied on time under him.’
A referendum was held last year in Tower Hamlets on replacing the directly elected mayoralty system with a traditional cabinet and council leader system of local government. Despite the backing of the Labour mayor John Biggs, the campaign to replace the existing system lost by a landslide, with Rahman being the face of local opposition. On a 41. 8 per cent turnout, the ‘Yes for Mayor’ won a staggering 63,046 votes to the pro-change ‘Leading together’ side which got 17,957 ballots.
Rahman’s party – Aspire – also won a by-election last August in a contest that became a local referendum on LTNs in a ward that was previously one of the safest Labour seats in the borough. Pro-Rahman nominee Kabir Ahmed won 1,204 votes to the Labour candidate’s 742. Rahman featured prominently in Ahmed’s election materials in that campaign, calling for locals to back him ‘to help bring about a positive change in Tower Hamlets.’
In his 2015 case, judge Richard Mawrey said Rahman had ‘driven a coach and horses through election law and didn’t care’ while his party Tower Hamlets First, was ‘never really a party but the alter ego of Lutfur Rahman’. An aide was found guilty of corruption; supporters attempted to seek a spiritual influence through local imams while Rahman himself accused rival John Biggs of being a racist. Nice!
Comments