Lutfur Rahman | |
|---|---|
লুৎফুর রহমান | |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Lutfurrahman1_(cropped).jpg) Lutfur Rahman in April 2018 | |
| 1st and 3rd Mayor of Tower Hamlets | |
| Assumed office 9 May 2022 | |
| Preceded by | John Biggs |
| In office 25 October 2010 – 23 April 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | John Biggs |
| Leader of Tower Hamlets First | |
| In office 18 September 2013 – 23 April 2015 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mohammad Lutfur Rahman Sylhet District, East Pakistan |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Aspire (since 2018) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Residence(s) | Tower Hamlets, London, England |
| Profession | Politician |
Mohammad Lutfur Rahman (Bengali: মোহাম্মদ লুৎফুর রহমান) is a Bangladesh-born British politician and former solicitor serving as the directly elected mayor of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for the Aspire party since 2022, having previously held the post from 2010 to 2015 until being found guilty of electoral fraud and forced to resign.
Lutfur Rahman was the leader of Tower Hamlets London Borough Council from 2008 to 2010 for the Labour Party, and was initially selected as that party's candidate for the 2010 mayoral election. After allegations of links to a fundamentalist group and of signing up ineligible voters for the selection process, he was removed as Labour's candidate, and left the party to contest and win the election as an independent candidate.
He was re-elected at the 2014 mayoral election as the candidate for Tower Hamlets First, but the result of this election was declared null and void on 23 April 2015 when the Election Court officially reported Lutfur Rahman to be "personally guilty" of "corrupt or illegal practices, or both" (electoral fraud) under the Representation of the People Act 1983.[1][2] He was thus removed from his office with immediate effect and was also personally debarred from standing for elected office until 2021.[3][4] He was also struck off as a solicitor.[5]
In 2018 he was involved in the founding of a new party, Aspire, and at the May 2022 local elections, following the expiration of his ban, he successfully stood for election to the mayoralty as the Aspire candidate, with the party also taking the majority of seats on the council.
- ^ Tom Whitehead (23 April 2015). "Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman guilty of corrupt and illegal practices over election". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ^ Parliament of the United Kingdom (8 February 1983), The Representation of the People Act 1983, Chapter 2 (as amended on the 23rd. July 2015), Part III, Section 159, London: The National Archives, Ministry of Justice, HM Government, retrieved 23 July 2015
- ^ Tower Hamlets election fraud mayor Lutfur Rahman removed from office, BBC News, 23 April 2015, retrieved 25 July 2015
- ^ Mike Brooke (29 April 2015), Rahman's 'Tower Hamlets First' is removed from Electoral Commission's party register, The Docklands and East London Advertiser, retrieved 25 July 2015
- ^ Walters, Max (20 December 2017). "£86,000 costs as tribunal strikes off former mayor". The Law Society Gazette. Law Society of England and Wales. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017.