I wasn’t there, but Lutfur’s first cabinet did in the end manage to go ahead. He did finally persuade enough people to join him to make the meeting quorate.
Unfortunately for him, the four who have taken up posts are all from his ‘group of eight’ ex-Labour councillors.
So Alibor Choudhary takes the finance portfolio, new councillor Rabina Khan is in charge of housing, Oli Rahman is responsible for children and education, and his fellow Respect defector, Rania Khan, will run regeneration.
Tory Opposition leader Peter Golds, who was there, said: “His cabinet is beyond parody. You couldn’t find a more ineffectual bunch of four if you tried. Who’s going to have any respect for people who have belonged to four political groupings in the past four years?”
He refers, of course, to Oli Rahman and Rania Khan: they left Respect for SWP/Left List/Independent, then Labour, then Independent.
Trial by Jeory 