United Kingdom
Related: About this forum'Stolen election' in the heart of London
For more than four years, The Telegraph has been following the extraordinary career of Mr Rahman, a man thrown out of the Labour Party after this newspaper exposed his close links to a Muslim extremist group, the Islamic Forum of Europe.
Yet Mr Rahman has gone on to win two mayoral elections as an independent, his latest, last week, even though his council is under a police investigation for corruption and a government investigation for misuse of funds. How did he manage it? Khales Uddin Ahmed, another Labour councillor, claims he knows part of the answer. “There are so many fake voters,” he says. “I keep finding houses where there are people registered for postal votes who do not live there.” ...
< long snip (must read) >
... In his first interview since the election, Mr Rahman told LBC radio yesterday that the atmosphere on polling day was “fantastic” and the misconduct allegations were the claims of “sore losers”.
His strategy and delivery adviser, Kazim Zaidi, said that if the result was not accepted, “civil war” would “spill out on to the streets”.
In the next few weeks, after its investigation is complete, the Government must decide whether it continues to look on, as a borough at the heart of London, in other ways an improving place, declines into a political slum.
/... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10867666/Stolen-election-in-the-heart-of-London.html
Is this sort of thing common in UK these days?
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Anarcho-Socialist
(9,601 posts)This most recent election had the most fantastic level of scrutiny and he still won. The Telegraph is hostile as Rahman is 1) a Muslim 2) Asian and 3) a left-wing socialist.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)(although I wasn't aware of the third factor). Thanks.
Any kind of vote-rigging unthinkable by any party anywhere in UK, then?
LeftishBrit
(41,202 posts)
muriel_volestrangler
(101,264 posts)...
In the two months before the election he says the population of the ward increased by more than 10%. "We started checking them and we found a lot of them were ghosts. We'd knock on the door and ask, 'Do you know Mr So and So?' 'No, I don't'."
He discovered the "ghost" voters had been used to obtain postal ballot papers, which were filled in illegally by activists in favour of his rival.
Mr Ali took his findings to an election court, where the judge in the case, Richard Mawrey QC, ruled there had been fraud and overturned the result, leading to a by-election.
...
The government is introducing tighter controls on enrolling to vote, known as Individual Electoral Registration. People will have their identities matched to other officially held information such as national insurance numbers.
Councils will also be required to check all signatures accompanying postal ballot papers against those on the vote application form. Currently only a sample is checked.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26487418
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)one hopes this won't become a problem...
muriel_volestrangler
(101,264 posts)It takes work to do it - you have to have access to the mail for addresses, so that you can intercept the annual forms for registration, and the postal voting forms. A small number of people may get away with that in one council ward, but to organise it over an area large enough to effect a large election like the referendum hugely increases the chances of getting caught.
LeftishBrit
(41,202 posts)They really, really, really don't like people on the left; and even less if they are associated with immigrant communities.
As regards the election being 'stolen', this has been investigated, and no real evidence found.
Do I like Rahman having any sort of connections with the Islamic Forum for Europe? No. The organization is not 'extremist' in the sense of pro-terrorism; but it is anti-secular and in favour of religious intrusions into politics, and so as far as I'm concerned, they can fuck off. But four years ago, my secularist MP was defeated partly through a smear campaign by pro-life Christian-Right nutters, and the Torygraph egged them on, and celebrated the result as 'the best result of the election', and no I haven't forgotten, so they can fuck off too. And I don't regularly use this sort of language, but I hate religious right-wingers of all stripes, and I hate bloody hypocrites such as the Torygraph writers.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)In a broad sense, of course, right? "Religion" is Politics (ie. Elitist Political Power). It is all about nothing else.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)Any chance she or he will try for a comeback?
LeftishBrit
(41,202 posts)No. He is doing other things now. And to be honest, he didn't campaign terribly assiduously even at the time.
Any chance of our getting rid of the current Tory MP? Well, on paper quite a good chance, as her majority is 176; but given what's been happening with the LibDems, and that Labour have little chance in the constituency (they do well in the city of Oxford, but not in the surrounding areas), I'm not putting my hopes up too high.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)Last edited Wed Jun 11, 2014, 10:29 AM - Edit history (1)
The last four years would have been an agonizing time for the guy...I'm thinking he'd have ended up crossing the floor (probably
to sit as an independent).
If the Tories are down, Labour is still weak and the LibDems are now reviled in your constituency, perhaps the Greens have a chance there...or some small independent Left party of some stripe.
LeftishBrit
(41,202 posts)They may get a few extra votes from disillusioned ex-LibDem students; but not enough to win.
I fear it will be the Tories back again (sigh).
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)From early April :
The government has ordered outside auditors to examine allegations that an east London mayor sought to shore up his vote by diverting £2m in public grants to Bangladeshi and Somali groups.
The communities secretary, Eric Pickles, said staff from the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers were already in place at Tower Hamlets council. A file is being passed to the Metropolitan police.
This week a BBC Panorama documentary alleged that the executive mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, increased taxpayer funding to Bangladeshi and Somali groups from £1.5m to £3.6m against council officer recommendations, cutting what was available for other organisations by 25% overall.
Rahman, who is of Bangladeshi origin, has denied the allegations, accusing the BBC of racism and Islamophobia. He sits as an independent after he was dropped by Labour in 2010.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/04/investigation-tower-hamlets-mayor-lutfur-rahman
T_i_B
(14,735 posts)So this isn't a huge surprise, and I doubt that it's just "Tower Hamlets First" up to the funny business.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,264 posts)A 24-year-old man was taken into custody on Tuesday regarding allegations of fraud involving postal votes, a Met spokesman said on Wednesday. A 38-year-old man was arrested in May in connection with a false declaration on official nomination forms, the spokesman added.
The arrests are part of eight investigations into the borough following controversial mayoral and council elections two weeks ago in which the independent mayor, Lutfur Rahman, beat Labour's candidate, John Biggs.
They follow criticisms of the council, police and the electoral authorities for failing to keep order at polling stations and during the count. Tower Hamlets had previously been named by the electoral commission as one of 16 areas vulnerable to electoral fraud.
A statement released by the Met said the specialist crime and operations directorate had received 84 complaints of electoral malpractice following the 22 May elections, most of which had not been supported by evidence.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/04/two-arrested-tower-hamlets-electoral-fraud-allegations
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)It's not as if Tower Hamlets would ever elect a Conservative or UKIP mayor.
LeftishBrit
(41,202 posts)Not that they love Labour either. But it's an opportunity to get in a dig against left-wing/minority/Muslim politicians as a whole.
Of course, some electoral malpractice may have happened, as anywhere; there is now another investigation. But I don't trust the Torygraph motives in their 'concerns' here.
T_i_B
(14,735 posts).....then they don't even have much time for the electorate in places like Tower Hamlets, which in turn drives people well away from the parties they would like to see gaining support.
