Anyone who fears politics has become stale of late, stilted by the never-ending saga of Covid – prepare yourselves for some entertainment: Lutfur Rahman is back! Yes, it’s been five years in the wilderness, but the Arthur Daley of Tower Hamlets is once again hitting the campaign trail to become mayor.
Those with long memories may recall the infamous Tower Hamlets’ election night, way back in May 2014, where the ‘count’ took in excess of five days. It’s not easy getting convicted of electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets, but Rahman managed it; no ifs, no buts.
If nothing else, you have to admire his attention to detail. Alongside his conviction for ‘corrupt and illegal practices’ and being struck off as a solicitor, Rahman has either been found guilty or merely accused 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.
But now that five-year ban is over baby, and Rahman is on the march. With more makeovers than Justin Trudeau, Rahman has transitioned politically from Labour, Tower Hamlets First, independent candidacy, and is now running for his own Party, Aspire. Astutely aware of the exaggerated controversy which surrounds his campaign, Rahman explains himself in an election leaflet:
I have never ever acted dishonestly, but to those who think I didn’t exercise enough oversight over campaigners in the last election, I apologise.
It was much the same, selfless commitment to public service, which featured in his acceptance speech, back in 2014:
I’m grateful to the people of this borough. When I came to this country I couldn’t speak a word of English. If it wasn’t for my teachers and my neighbours helping me, this boy from Bangladesh wouldn’t have had a break in life. I don’t want nothing from this job. I don’t want no fame, I don’t want no name. I don’t do this for the money. When people say I’m a racist or I’m a sectarian, it saddens me. I grew up with black kids and white kids. I grew up with Jewish kids and kids of no faith. The mayoralty is a gift from the people of this borough and all I want to do is make sure I respect that trust. Nothing else.
I confess however, I prefer High Court judge Richard Mawrey QC’s pithier summary:
Although faced with searching, hostile and, it must be said, occasionally mildly offensive questioning, Mr Rahman was unfailingly courteous and polite. With regret, that is the only positive thing that can be said about his evidence. Faced with a straight question, he proved himself almost pathologically incapable of giving a straight answer.
Mr Rahman is a colourful character; one I dearly hope has not changed his stripes. Thankfully, there is already a reassuring whiff of scandal in the air. Only last year, Lord Harward warned the Electoral Commission it must prepare itself for potential corruption, after evidence emerged Rahman’s campaigners were instructing supporters to collect votes for him.
In other walks of life, comebacks rarely live up to the hype. With the mayoralty a ‘nice little earner’ however, I suspect Tower Hamlets’ favourite wheeler dealer may just succeed. As his rainbow posters rightly state, he was ‘the first elected mayor of Tower Hamlets’. One can only hope, this time he aims to win slightly less than 100% of the vote.
