Lutfur Rahman: back with a bung!

You can’t keep a good man down, so they say. But it’s even harder to suppress a wrong’un, as they tend not to play by the rules. Cue Lutfur Rahman, or Lutty, as I think his friends ought to be allowed to call him. Tower Hamlets’ favourite son; the vote-riggers’ vote-rigger. Removed from office way back in 2015, Lutty has just been re-elected as mayor of Tower Hamlets – what were the odds?

Don’t listen to the naysayers, who seem to view this as some kind of shock. Conservative minister James Cleverly called the result: ‘Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.’ The Standard classified the election as ‘a major upset’ – what election were they watching? Anyone on the ball will have read about Rahman’s campaign in The New Conservative back in February of this year, and would have known there was only ever going to be one winner in Tower Hamlets. 

This time round, Rahman was careful to win with substantially less than 100% of the vote (best not to go mad). And it is predictable, though disappointing, to see far-right outlets like the BBC and the Guardian making insinuations about Rahman’s past. Yes, there may be evidence circulating of ‘vote collection’, but this is a million miles away from ‘vote-rigging’, and it is quite wrong to suggest there is the merest whiff of electoral impropriety surrounding Rahman’s victory. 

Besides which, let’s remind ourselves that while Rahman was found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices by an Election Court in 2015, this never translated to an actual prosecution. After a £1.7M, yearlong investigation into the allegations, the MET Police said it had:

not identified sufficient additional evidence or investigative opportunities to enable the MET to request the Crown Prosecution Service consider the charging of any individual in relation to offences of electoral fraud and malpractice arising from the 2014 mayoral election.

Bear in mind also, the authorities have much more pressing matters at hand. The MET Police hasn’t yet fully got to grips with its pronouns, while the CPS are still desperately hunting for evidence of Muslim rape gangs in Rotherham – priorities, people!

If anything, you have to admire Rahman’s stoicism in the face of racist and oft-unsubstantiated smears on his reputation. Besides the trivia of his conviction for ‘corrupt and illegal practices’ and being struck off as a solicitor, Rahman has only sometimes been guilty of the following: vote-rigging, intimidation, playing the race card to secure power, tampering with ballot boxes, personation, making false statements about opponents, bribery, spiritual influence (using local Imams to pressure the Muslim community into voting), vanity spending, testimonials for dubious individuals, and diverting over £3.6M of grants to Bangladeshis and Somalis in return for political support. Not only that, the man still finds time to canvass –  you’ve got to give it to him. 

In terms of actual votes cast, Rahman won 40,804 on the second round, with the incumbent Biggs on 33,487. It is understood the votes of the dead are still being counted, but a Tower Hamlets count official (who wished to remain anonymous) admitted: ‘it’s safe to say, Rahman is extremely popular amongst this demographic’. 

Here’s what the new mayor had to say upon his surprise re-election:

The people of the borough gave a verdict today. I was in the court of the people. And they said, in a loud voice, they wanted Lutfur Rahman and his team to serve them for the next four years, and that’s what I want to do.

When asked if this was a free and fair election, he commented:

I have no doubt. I have full faith in the council officers, I have full faith in the police officers in the borough. And they have overseen a democratic process yesterday.

You get the politicians you deserve. And since Tower Hamlets has long-since made its bed, it had better sleep in it. Meanwhile over at City Hall, it may be squeaky bum time for Sadiq Khan, who has long-cherished the accolade of ‘World’s worst custodian since the mayor of Hamlyn knocked the Pied Piper’. With Lutty back in business, Khan finally has some competition.