Tower Hamlets First

Tower Hamlets First
Leader Lutfur Rahman
Treasurer Alibor Choudhury
Founded 18 September 2013
Ideology Local issues, leader stated he is a social democrat[1]
Local government (Tower Hamlets)[2]
17 / 45
Politics of the United Kingdom
Political parties
Elections

Tower Hamlets First was a political party represented on Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, launched to contest the 2014 local elections. At the 2014 London borough council elections they were the second largest party on Tower Hamlets Council and the fifth largest political party represented on all London borough councils.

History

The party was founded by Lutfur Rahman in 2013, who was elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets as an independent in 2010. It was active in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and had considerable support amongst the local Muslim British Bangladeshi community.[3]

The party stood candidates in the 2014 Tower Hamlets Council election,[4] winning 18 out of 45 seats.

In April 2015 the party was removed from the register of political parties by the Electoral Commission as the party was not operating a responsible financial scheme and the running of the party did not follow the documentation given in the party’s registration.[5][6]

Controversies

Tower Hamlets First has drawn attention for various controversies. It faced ongoing accusations of using intimidation, fraud and bribery to gain votes and of having divisive policies.[7][8][9]

In April 2014, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles ordered an investigation into suspected governance failure, poor financial management and fraud in Tower Hamlets.[10] The Tower Hamlets First led council launched a legal appeal to try and prevent the review, the appeal was rejected and described as "hopeless" by a High Court judge.[11] The Department for Communities and Local Government investigation, carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers,[12] found a "culture of cronyism" but no fraud at the council. Pickles determined the council was not meeting its "Best Value duties", and sent in commissioners to run the council's grant-making system and approve any disposals of council property until March 2017.[13][14]

In September 2014, the current Conservative Home Secretary Theresa May accused the party of being socially divisive and having sectarian politics.[15]

The party leader Lutfur Rahman has also individually been the subject of numerous controversies.[16] In April 2015, Rahman was found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices and had "breached the rules governing elections," forcing the 2014 mayoral election result to be voided and a new election announced, with Rahman banned from standing again.[17] There will also be a council by-election in the ward of Stepney.[18] Following the judgement at the Election Court, the Electoral Commission released a statement confirming that Tower Hamlets First have been removed from its register of political parties owing to a failure to implement the financial scheme that was submitted to the Commission on registration of the party.[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ Hill, Dave (12 October 2010). "Tower Hamlets: interview with independent mayoral candidate Lutfur Rahman". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-10-17. I believe in social democracy
  2. ↑ Keith Edkins (30 November 2009). "Local Council Political Compositions". Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  3. ↑ "Lutfur Rahman poised for reelection in Tower Hamlets". UNB Connect. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Local Elections - Thursday, 22nd May, 2014". Tower Hamlets Council. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 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 1 May 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Media statement on removal of Tower Hamlets First from the Electoral Commission's register of political parties". Electoral Commission. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29850569
  8. ↑ http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/tower-hamlets-vote-fraud-explosive-high-court-dossier-accuses-lutfur-rahmans-campaign-of-threats-and-bribery-9678861.html
  9. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10900132/First-fake-voters-now-police-look-into-bogus-councillors-in-Tower-Hamlets.html
  10. ↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/inspectors-appointed-to-investigate-london-borough-of-tower-hamlets
  11. ↑ http://www.lgcplus.com/Journals/2014/09/05/w/j/t/Tower-Hamlets-Judicial-Review-Judgement.pdf
  12. ↑ Caroline Davies (16 April 2014). "Police find no evidence of criminality by Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  13. ↑ "Eric Pickles sends in commissioners to Tower Hamlets". BBC. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  14. ↑ Richard Johnstone (17 December 2014). "Pickles names Tower Hamlets commissioners". Public Finace. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  15. ↑ http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-may-uses-tory-conference-speech-to-hit-out-at-tower-hamlets-councils-divisive-politics-9765424.html
  16. ↑ http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100200249/lutfur-rahman-some-facts-the-guardian-forgot-to-mention/
  17. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32428648
  18. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/judgment.pdf

External links