Former Mayor Rahman tries to overturn ban

Ex-Mayor Lutfur Rahman demo. Pic: Name withheld

Lutfur Rahman, the disgraced former mayor of Tower Hamlets, is requesting judicial review at the High Court of his five-year ban from elected office. Rahman, currently debarred until 2021, has recently been linked to an emerging political party, Tower Hamlets Together.

Rahman was found guilty of “corrupt or illegal practices, or both” by a judge in a civil election court in 2015 for activities during the 2014 mayoral race. He was forced to quit and also debarred from standing for public office for six years..

Further investigations followed but last March, Scotland Yard decided to drop Rahman’s case due to “insufficient evidence that criminal offences had been committed”. According to court documents, his lawyers believe that the Metropolitan Police’s admittance is enough to appeal his case.

Ex-Communities Secretary Sir Eric Pickles told LBC News: “The police have rather dragged their feet and haven’t really understood the seriousness of what is going on.”

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