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.
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