The Mayor of Tower Hamlets has been kicked out of office. Lutfur Rahman was found guilty at a High Court hearing this morning of ‘corrupt and illegal practices’ and the result of the 2014 mayoral election has been voided. Rahman has to pay costs of £250,000 and has been barred from standing in the next election after Judge Richard Mawrey said he’d ‘driven a coach and horses through election law and didn’t care’.
The list of offences is long. Rahman has been found guilty of allocating grants to buy votes; his supporters were found to have been involved in the rigging of votes; he wrongly branded his Labour rival John Biggs a racist; his supporters attempted to seek a spiritual influence through local imams. One of his aides, Alibor Choudhury, was also found guilty of corruption and illegal electoral practices. His party, Tower Hamlets First, was ‘never really a party but the alter ego of Lutfur Rahman’.
As Britain’s first directly-elected Muslim mayor — and now the first to be removed from office — this verdict reflects badly on the Tories’ plan to bring in elected Mayors.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in