The ballot boxes at The Troxy in Limehouse have now been opened. Council officials will now start sifting through the ballot papers, rejecting any that are spoilt or invalid for other reasons.
They will announce the final turnout (with the number of postal votes added) soon after 11am.
Shortly after that, the count for the mayor begins. Council officials expect the result at about 3pm.
They’ll then have the task of counting for the councillor elections.
On turnout, Labour sources believe it’s much higher than the 25 per cent in October 2010. On that basis, they were hopeful last night. They don’t see how Lutfur Rahman can vastly increase the 23,300 votes he polled last time (which was 51 per cent of the turnout and meant he won on the first round).
If Lutfur fails to win on the first round today, then it’s difficult to see where he would pick up second preferences. His tally would then remain stable, and if he were in the lead, he would be relying on Tory and Ukip voters not giving John Biggs their second preferences.
Only a few hours until the speculation ends. I’ll update this thread as and when I can, but I may be doing more reporting on Twitter, so follow me there @tedjeory.
1245pm—still verifying ballot papers. Turnout seems high. Labour think in mid-40 per cent territory. Apparently in white middle class areas of Spitalfields, turnout at 60 per cent. That’s very encouraging for Biggs.
Seems count will now start after 2pm, result about 6pm.
A couple of pics of John Biggs at count and Lutfur’s favourite curry king Shiraj Haque.
UPDATE 1.24pm
Change in mood in Labour camp. More despondent. They think Lutfur could win on first preferences, that his votes piling up in traditional Labour heartlands.
Trial by Jeory 
Thanks Ted. An exhausting day yesterday but well worth it. The thought that Lutfur Rahman’s reign as mayor may come to an end in the next 5-6 hours is a strange one. What will we all do with ourselves??
The thought that he might get another 4 years though is terrifying!
Thanks Ted – for providing this ‘forum’ so we could follow what was going on yesterday and allowing a place for people to highlight what concerns them.
Are you going to be reporting from inside the Troxy?
I was greatly intrigued by the ‘sign-off tweets’ from the two key candidates yesterday. I don’t know about anybody else but to me they seemed to tell a story 🙂
Has anyone any bets or guestimates ?
Curious Cat
At close of play, PaddyPower had JB at 2/5. LR at 7/4. Wilford and McQueen 50/1 and Smith 100/1. JB accounted for 60% of all bets, LR 33.3% and Wilford 6.67.
Interesting. Thanks Jay Kay.
I think we can take it that a failure to declare the final turnout soon after 11am means there are problems with some of the ballot boxes
…or maybe people are just verifying very slowly or double checking?
A result by 1pm seems unlikely.
Sorry – I meant to say “by 3pm” but for some reason the earlier prediction was still stuck in my head!
What would people prefer me to do? Update the blog post when I can or give my updates as comments here?
Both! 🙂
I’ll update blog then, which I’ve just done
I’ll reference your post updates in the comments for those who don’t reread the post every time. OK? 🙂
Perfect thanks!
Ted has just updated the post as follows
Seems count will now start after 2pm, result about 6pm.
…and encouraging for Tower Hamlets.
It seems Luthfurs days are numbered. Tactical votinging by Labour, conservative and Lib Dem has revealed that non labour supporters have given Biggs are their second preference.
John Biggs needs two things to happen
1) the percentage of electors who have voted to have significantly increased
2) the second vote of the majority of electors to have been given to him
The fact that Rahman and his supporters are being so quiet suggests to me that both may well have happened.
Mind you we could also do with somebody taking John Biggs Twitter account off him and tweeting on his behalf!
12.40pm The Guardian reports
I thought tweets by @broseph_stalin summed up well the ‘I felt intimidated, there were men stood outside the polling station – horror!!’ rubbish stories in last thread:
“All these white ppl claiming “intimidation” by Lutfur’s supporters at the polls are ones that feel “intimidated” walking next to brown ppl”
“voter intimidation” aka “white cops saving white women from brown men” such racist shit”
The election should not be made racial. It is about the QUALITY and the COMPETENCE of local government.
Curious Cat
You are full of something brown.
Ted just updated
Change in mood in Labour camp. More despondent. They think Lutfur could win on first preferences, that his votes piling up in traditional Labour heartlands.
I thought you said they wouldn’t start counting until 2pm.
Do you mean they are sorting ballot papers by first vote into piles to be counted?
oh please no
Maybe Ted is just trying to spice up these last hours with some journalistic flair??
Josh Peck tweeted about an hour ago: Bow West Mayoral ballots all opened and verified. Looks like you voted about 3:1 for @johnbiggs4mayor. V mixed elsewhere though.
and has earlier tweeted
Watching with concern whilst on holiday in Greece, where I’ve met two other couples who just like us requested postal votes which didn’t arrive before we’d already left. So that’s 6 votes for JB lost
Its worth finding out, after you get back, whether or not your postal votes VOTED. Its England and lots of strange things are possible.
Curious Cat.
well lets be honest…..it was never going to be straightforward!!
where is the count being held?
At the Troxy.
Ted’s just tweeted that the view might be that Biggs sneaks the mayoralty but there are going to be high profile casualties in the councillors, along race lines.
Ted’s video from yesterday may well provide the clue to why Labour still has an awful lot of work to do to avoid people using their party for their own personal agendas.
Ted’s tweets
It’s who you talk to I guess. Now some think Biggs might sneak mayoralty but labour to lose several council seats. I have no bloody idea 25 minutes ago
observers think there’s been split voting on racial grounds in polling for council candidates. So high profile white Lab candidates at risk 30 minutes ago
Change of mood in Labour camp. Far more pessimistic. Saying they’ve been ‘had’ on doorstep. People telling them one thing, voting another 1 hour ago
Any clue as to which white Labour Candidates at risk?
I’d have thought an obvious weak one would be Denise Jones in Wapping…
Hang on a minute.
I thought they were doing consecutive counts ie everybody does the Mayoral verification/count first and when that’s finished then they do the Councillors
If that’s the case then that means none of the boxes for the Councillors ballot will have yet been opened or verified. Hence all mutterings re the fate of Councillors must surely just be speculation?
Is it not possible that this is the other way round, that people have voted Labour for councillors and Lutfur for Mayor – as per the video yesterday?
… my spies at the count tell me “there will be a second round”
I hope this is reality and not just wishful thinking
If there is a second round then it all comes down to the second vote.
Oh god, the idea of Lutfur getting in again…
Of course, if he is beaten yet other TH First councillors get in it would be ironic considering that all of their literature was advertising Lutfur only.
On the other hand, one could argue one simple message might account for the number of votes Rahman gets
very relevant when you remember the Councillor elections are a sideshow
One has to ask whether the Labour Party has sufficiently got its head around the fact that they only game in town is the Mayoralty.
It could come down to what those Labour Party supporters actually said during the canvassing……..
So if it goes to a count of the second votes – which I would guess would take at least as long if not longer than the first count – what’s the time estimate for the completion of the count?
About 6pm.
It would be poetic justice, if a room full of Lutfurite nobodies had to face Mr Biggs in a powerful directly-elected Mayoralty of their own making.
Oh, but I can fantasize…
It gets worse – Ted’s latest tweets
Ted Jeory @TedJeory 3m
Much talk among politicos that Ukip could have won it for Lutfur by splitting the anti-vote on 1st round. The irony.
Ted Jeory @TedJeory 9m
Lutfur’s camp think they’ll win on first round but by close margin. They say v few Bengali Lab candidates pushed for Biggs on doorstep
Very odd replying to my own post – but I’m actually replying to Ted!
Splitting the anti-vote on the first round was always entirely predictable. The issue was always going to be whether Lutfur was going to get the 50+% on the first round votes.
I wonder how many of the Labour Councillors who get elected this time around who have Bengali allegiances will be jumping ship and joining THF if Rahman gets elected?
If that does in fact happen I wonder then if the Labour Party will understand that yet again their party will have been used for the political ambitions of others. The problem last time around was Lutfur got elected but without enough Councillors to be able to control whole Council votes. Maybe has worked out a way round that?
You would have thought the Labour Party would have learned by now………
If these Bengali Labour candidates are elected and Luftur is elected, will these Labour councillors jump ship (again)? Is there any power of recall? After all they were elected as Labour not Independent or THF.
I guess there might be some sort of notion of conspiracy to defraud- but I don’t quite see how this works legally.
Maybe white people should do what Bengali voters seem to do and that is only vote for members of your own ethno-religious group. You can’t trust ’em otherwise, eh?
All just speculation. The count hasn’t even begun yet.
I don’t understand how splitting the anti vote has much bearing on whether Lutfur gets 50% in the first round, though.
It doesn’t – it’a faulty logic.
It only matters in the second round if first round voting drove Biggs’s figure right down and then people didn’t give Biggs their second vote
This talk about UKIP being to blame for splitting the vote and [possibly] letting Lutfur in is totally rubbish – as YCMIU pointed out it only works on the second round, if it goes to a second round. And on the second round UKIP would be as much to blame for not voting Biggs (in the second round) as Tory, Lib Dem and all the rest.
Labour damage management hoves into view
Ted’s latest tweet
Looks like the boundary changes could be taking their toll
I still don’t know how anybody could know this given the Councillor count is supposed to follow the Mayoral count – but gfor what it’s worth here’s Ted’s latest tweet
Votes are still being verified.
Verification nearly complete. Then turnout figure followed by Mayoral count.
You mean they are still verifying the Mayoral votes – and haven’t even started the Mayoral Count?
Yes.
It’s the 30,000 postal votes they are verifying, isn’t it? Checking signatures from Registration forms… is this the case?
Verification was that the number of ballots cast at Polling Stations corresponded to the same number received at the place of count. I believe postal votes were verified earlier after their deadline for receipt.
Having made a few enquiries, I’m now getting reports that Rachael Saunders is sitting in the Troxy looking very glum. I’m assuming this is because of the way her ward votes have gone re the Mayoralty.
I’m guessing looking glum is not the thing to do during a count if you want people to think you are doing well.
If Rachael is just rather tired as opposed to glum perhaps she could give Ted a big smile next time she sees him?
It might also be because she is completely exhausted after being out all day yesterday campaigning. Lets hope so. She is a very good councillor.
The count has begun.
Thanks for the update!
So do we have a result yet re turnout on the Mayoralty election?
No, nothing yet. Postal votes 16k. Some talk turnout in now wards above 50%. John Biggs whistling Led Zeppelin to himself
buw hich track from Led Zeppelin Ted? Come on – details are important! 😉 😀
sorry – finger twitched! That should have read
“But which track from Led Zeppelin?”
and another tweet from ted
“Ted Jeory @TedJeory 6m
Bengali hack to John Biggs:’Why you whistling,John?’ JB: ‘I’m whistling Led Zeppelin.’ Hack: ‘How’ve you done?’ JB: ‘I’ve finished in top 8′”
I take it you haven’t read Ted’s latest tweet?
Sounds to me like the counters need a break.
Ted Jeory @TedJeory 3 mins
About 16,000 postal votes accepted. Still verifying ballots. Tedious. More than an hour until count starts. Still no clearer on prediction
>>> I read elsewhere there were 30,000 postal votes… does this mean many have been rejected?
This could turn into a Miami Dade situation…
Oh – this could go on for days…. 😦
So Rahman’s supporters were estimating some 30,000 postal votes (or was this mere speculation?) – but only 16,000 accepted. There’s got to be a story behind that!
Hanging chad anyone?
Major concern on the twitterstream about the weekend plans of hacks – being hijacked by this count.
I’m now predicting that they are currently making contingency plans to do the Councillor Count tomorrow.
That’s because counting of votes is believe or not quite an expert job and they tend to stick to people they can trust. So if this count goes on into the evening then they have no chance of using the same team to do the Councillor Count – just in terms of working hours. Unless they’ve got the team split into sub-teams and have got rest breaks planned and had in any case worked out how to staff up for a long-running count
That’s a prompt Ted to ask the question…….. 😉
70% of 16,000 postal votes have go to the Lufur camp…. ,,,
Why?
Since we don’t yet have the number of votes cast yesterday AND they’ve not yet started the count of the votes from yesterday how on earth could you come up with a figure of 70%
Thats the vibe coming out from Troxy
People say all sorts of things at counts – it doesn’t mean any of them are true!
If you actually meant to say “70% of the postal votes have gone to Lutfur” that’s not in the least bit surprising since he is know to mobilise a lot of “support” via postal votes.
However it doesn’t mean a thing even if it’s true since it’s the total percentage on the total vote that actually matters.
What utter rubbish.
what’s rubbish “the vibe” or my comment? I’m assuming you mean “the vibe”.
I can imagine someone saying “Wouldn’t it be easier if we just had a mayor and no councillors? I appoint my own team of advisors in any case”.
It would be better if we only had councillors and no mayor.
Ted’s photo of the scene outside the Troxy
“Ted Jeory @TedJeory 12m
Meanwhile, as all of us inside The Troxy are dying to get out, here’s the scene outside (still nothing to announce)”
Ted – is it a “lock-down” – once you’re in you’re in and you can’t get out?
It is a shambles. Candidates furious and no explanations on delay
have they actually counted the votes yet (at least once) or is this still about postal votes?
What on earth is going on?? Have all the vote been counted? – Lets have the RESULT!
Tweet from Cllr. Rachael Saunders
Looks to me that there are probably people heading for the betting sites right now to place a bet on Tower Hamlets not only being the last Council in London to declare a result but the last Council in the country!
Anybody care to find out the odds?
All bets are off I reckon.
86542 votes 47.58% turnout on mayoral election. Ted tweeted.
Jings! That’s very high!
Means LR needs 43272 votes to win first round , ie 20k more than 2010. So second round likely
Just to replay votes in 2010 here they are
Independent – Lutfur Rahman 23,283 votes 51.8%
Labour – Helal Uddin Abbas 11,254 votes 25.0%
Conservative – Neil King 5,348 votes 11.9%
Liberal Democrat – John Griffiths 2,800 votes 6.2%
Green – Alan Duffell 2,300 votes 5.1%
To put that in perspective. If Lutfur has got at least as many votes as he got in 2010, he would have just 27% of the total votes that have been cast this time.
Wow – that’s HUGE!!! I now understand why they were being so careful checking.
The BBC is currently reporting that the Labour Party have had a brilliant time in London. They’ve won Councils and are now at levels of Labour Councillors not seen in London since 1971!
So if Labour do lose in Tower Hamlets some very, very serious questions will need to be asked.
There again with that level of turnout I can’t quite see how Lutfur can have won.
It’s going to be an interesting few hours…….
I can’t wait for these “very very” serious questions… I thought they happened in 2010…
Tweet from Ted Jeory ‘86542 votes 47.58% turnout on mayoral election’
Nearly double that from 2010.
Means Lutfur needs 43,272 votes to win in first round. That’s 20,000 more than he polled in Oct 2010. Second round likely.
Josh Peck tweeted that when turnout announced, a Lutfur supporter standing next to him said ‘that’s too much.’
Plus he also tweeted
I don’t know people come up with these rumours – but Ted’s tweeted as follows
Ignore that!
What Ted actually tweeted was this
Let’s hope they don’t bring home the bacon this time!!!!
I have never known an election with such suspense and anticipation
Tweet by Robin de Peyer:
Mayoral candidates summoned to returning officer (part of normal process). All present bar Lutfur, who sends one of his councillors (!)
Made me chuckle.
So the vote could be soon….
Maybe he’s exercising his human rights not do the job he’s paid for. Do you think my Boss will accept that excuse when I can’t be arsed? Worth a try?
Maybe Lutfur isn’t too pleased with The Returning Officer for the way he’s scrutinised the vote?
Tweet from Robin de Peyer:
John Biggs: “It looks promising…”
@TedJeory: Just been on counting floor. Overall, Lutfur seems ahead on first round but not by too much more than Biggs. Lots of 2nd prefs for Biggs
Are they counting by ward? Is it very varied across the borough?
How are these rumours about the prospects for certain Councillors emerging? Are they just based on the votes for Rahman in that ward?
I think they’ve mixed all the ballots up at this stage
@robindepeyer: Looks to me, at a glance, as though Lutfur supporters have been told not to give a second preference. Lots of labour second prefs for greens
The facsimile ballot paper had no vote for anybody else as the second vote – and if people are just copying the facsimile then they won’t have used their second vote
However Rahman voters withholding a second vote probably isn’t going to make one jot of difference to the outcome.
The only thing that matters are the second votes of those who did NOT vote for Rahman.
I suspect a lot of green votes are coming from cyclists
In fairness, neither did the Labour hand-out show a vote for a second preference although it was not designed to look like a ballot paper.
Hopefully, John ‘Second Choice’ Biggs will be consigned to history.
A fitting place for John ‘Second Choice’ Biggs to retire to: in the dinosaur section at Natural History Mueseum.
Any other suggestions?
I have a suggestion for you and it involves arses and something of yours
Thank you Grave Maurice. Do not dig your own grave with comments like that. It’ll come back to bite you in the ‘arse’.
Keep calm and watch the TH Labour circus implode.
=> Clapham
Whatever the nature and credibility of your comments, I have to admire your English prose. It, and your diction, is refreshingly good even when I disagree. What do you do when you are not being politically obnoxious by supporting a disastrous mayor ?
P.S. he’s not your Dad, is he ?
Curious Cat
Just ignore him – the fact that he’s being so rude probably means he knows John Biggs has won.
You couldn’t make it up, this is quite rich coming from a guy who made a series of racist and xenophobic comments in relation to Lutfur’s +10 leaflet. You brought up ‘female genital mutilation’ when that has nothing to do with the Bangladeshi community in TH. It is a despicable practice in certain parts of Africa. But, instead of admitting your mistake, you kept on making more xenophobic comments. You are a disgrace.
It is people like you who are bringing the TH Labour party down. We are hearing about high profile casualties like Cllr Edgar and people like you have to take some of the blame.
At no point did I ever make any connection between FGM and the Bangladeshi population.
That connection is in your mind alone – not in mine.
The context was a discussion about what is “normal practice” e.g. in terms of telling women what to do re. voting.
The point I was making – which you seem absolutely determined to ignore – was that just because a practice is (so-called) “normal” elsewhere in the world doesn’t make it acceptable in the UK.
The only reason FGM came up was because it seemed appropriate to use as an example another “imported practice” which also affects women which is unacceptable in the UK.
I could have commented on other practices affecting women – such as wife-beating and child marriages – but I’d still be commenting on the practice not which communities regard them as acceptable. The point is there are things which are OK in other parts of the world – but are not OK in the UK.
@robindepeyer · Pro-Lutfur source didn’t sound optimistic about second preference vote, if it comes to that and the first round is close.
@robindepeyer – Key will be the gap between Biggs and Lutfur in the first round (if it goes to second pref). If small, Biggs should edge it in 2nd round
You couldn’t make it up, this is quite rich coming from a guy who made a series of racist and xenophobic comments in relation to Lutfur’s +10 leaflet. You brought up ‘female genital mutilation’ when that has nothing to do with the Bangladeshi community in TH. It is a despicable practice in certain parts of Africa. But, instead of admitting your mistake, you kept on making more xenophobic comments. You are a disgrace.
It is people like you who are bringing the TH Labour party down. We are hearing about high profile casualties like Cllr Edgar and people like you have to take some of the blame.
You heard it here first; Lutfur has been re-elected in the first round and both Labour candidates in Spitalfields have been defeated.
What a disaster
This is the link to the official result page on the Council website – worth bookmarking for when the result finally comes through
http://moderngov.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=98&RPID=2744398
@TedJeory: Wisdom is Lutfur ahead by some 8k on first preferences and that Biggs doesn’t have enough second prefs…Lab sources
Is it even going to go to second preference? My sources suggest it won’t.
Biggs does not have enough second pref votes? That is strange considering Biggs specialises in being second pref.
Second pref behind Lutfur in 2010 selection. Then, second pref behind Abbas. Now, again second pref behind Lutfur!
That is some world record in being second pref.
Latest red tweet
Curious Cat, too much curiosity is not good. Remember curiosity killed the cat. With so many Labour councillors biting the dust, we don’t want you gone too.
Good news is your wish is about to come true. You always advocated a Tower Hamlets party to take control. Hopefully, Tower Hamlets First will do just that.
@robindepeyer – Pessimistic Lab faces as first round numbers due soon. They think Lutfur will have a strong enough 1st round maj to hold them off in 2nd rnd
Pessimistic or anxious?
So it will go to second round?
But Biggs might not have enough second votes?
Silly Clapham.
I’ve never ever voted Labour or supported Labour.
Amazing how wrong one can be, especially whilst lazing on a clapped-out trollybus to nowhere 🙂
Answer the question you keep avoiding …. are you the son of the infamous Tower Hamlets Son of labour ????
CC.
So Curious Cat, the answer to your question is ‘Labour is not my grandfather’.
Confused? You said Lutfur was son of Labour.
Now work it out.
Aha! I see what you mean. I did not suggest that you were Labour. It’s just the way I had phrased that sentence, Curious Cat. Apologies for brushing you with the Labour brush.
P.S. Clapham ….. Don’t forget the line
Satisfaction brought it back
I worked and waited for 4 years for this day, I pray john does win. If he does not I will fight another 4 years.
Those like us are busy fighting, not bitching. We never give up a fight for the right just cause ever
vae victis
It’s indeed a grave situation, but keep calm and watch as they bite the dust one by one.
Lamb to the THF slaughter!
So, omnibus, is this the moment when the colonisation project became unstoppable?
You’ve missed the point!
It’s not about fighting! It’s about serving the people!
I wrote yesterday having seen the atmosphere in some of the polling stations. It was a very sad day for Labour and a disaster for BBC Panorama.
British people, particularly the Eastenders know how to teach lessons to the racists and political thugs! This is just another win for hte ever strong Eastenders!
Lutfur has been completely vindicated. He has defeated all the haters on this blog and elsewhere.
Am not sure that’s the case. Many in his own group a and in Bengali press told me today they found his campaign v disturbing, that it concentrated exclusively on Bengali community. They say he needs to change and address this.
It’s rather like being diagnosed with cancer and hoping it goes away
Would those be the same ‘EastEnders’ who are causing such a threat to the safety of Labour supporters at the count that 150 police officers are outside for protection and the building is in lockdown? Very tolerant – NOT!
Sylhety, it may not be just another 4 years; it could be 8, 12 or more. However, it is probably better to think of it in terms of ‘4-year’ chunks. Less painful.
Good luck with your fighting.
@CllrJoshuaPeck – Coming to the end of counting the first round. Lutfur Rahman clearly in the lead. Possibly by too big a margin.
@mabz_anam · No announcement. Recount ordered.
@LoveWapping · Now hearing Lutfur has won on first prefs.
WappingConservatives @WappingTories · Apparently 45 boxes of contested ballots and only 4 been checked over so we are in it for the long haul.
@robindepeyer · Apparently they’re ploughing through 2,000 spoilt ballot papers here in Tower Hamlets.
No official announcement of the result as yet.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Luthfur hasn’t won!
There are three clear winners
1. Justice
2. Fairness
3. Truth
Labour’s John Biggs has not lost. There are three big losers:
1. Racists bigots (who did not want Luthfur because he’s BENGALI)
2. Ethnic discriminators (who did their best to spread the dirt that Luthfur was for Bengalis only)
3. Xenophobic aliens (who have no understanding of the spirit of the people of the East End)
@aishagani · Just had announcement that police been told count is illegally being passed on outside. Against secrets act
How’s that happening? Please let us know more.
Through social media.
ITS OVER LUTFUR WON ….LUTFUR RAHMAN MAYOR OF TOWER HAMLETS 46,928 VOTES
JOHN BIGGS 38,351
Great news!
F…ing hell
Curious Cat, you can’t do that to hell. You will get burnt.
@eastlondonlines – Press warned not to release information that could cause disturbance outside.
@robindepeyer · There’s a massive crowd outside Tower Hamlets mayoral count now and no one’s being allowed in/out:
@aishagani · Just to clarify there has been NO OFFICIAL announcement in Tower Hamlets on results
@TowerHamletsNow · An announcement has yet to be made as to whether the Mayoral count will go to second preference or not. Keep following for updates
@robindepeyer · “We are on lockdown” say security. No one can come in for an hour after leaving. TH ‘enforcement officer’ says “basically it kicked off”
@robindepeyer · First preference votes are NOT yet announces, for those asking.
Why would there be second preferences if Luthfur has a lead of 8000 on first votes?
Nothing official.
‘O amar Sylheti bai saab, Sylhet paile jemon temon, Dhakat paile koi achen kemon…’
Little bit of singing in Sylheti for my ‘Sylheti’ comrade to cheer him up, because he will be fighting for TH Labour shambles for the next 4 years.
The Brick Lane touts say the results (a Lutfur win) were announced THREE HOURS AGO on TV in Bangladesh
How are you still posting silly comments? You should be deep in that grave you started digging this afternoon.
I’ll throw a humble pie in your direction. Make sure you open your big mouth and catch it.
=> Clapham,
So nice. Giving food to the hungry in warped Tower Hamlets.
Do you consider this election for mayor ?
Curious Cat.
Man on the clapham. Your from clapham, so who cares
Don’t know much about Bangladesh, three hours ago it would have been 2 AM in Bangladesh! I don’t think TV’s operate at 2 AM in that part of the world!
If you are going to spread – spread something this is ‘spreadable’!
“So, omnibus, is this the moment when the colonisation project became unstoppable?”
Yes, Lutfur will now revive the British East India Co for his ‘colonisation project’. His town hall is right next to East India anyway.
Now, get back to digging that grave with your disastrous comments. If you get tired of digging, take a break and eat a ‘humble pie’.
Yes Robbi
Lutfurs won… so all you haters and what nots go cry for the next 4 years! tissues are on discount this week at your local sainsburys or tesco’s 🙂
@robindepeyer · Lutfur greets wildly cheering crowd outside, but no official confirmation in Tower hamlets yet
@robindepeyer · For those asking what’s going on here at Tower Hamlets count: it’s chaos
Panorama played a decisive role in this election.
In what way?
It made Lutfur look like a victim. Many in the Bangladeshi community felt he was being bullied. Personally I was not a big fan of Lutfur but following that program I said I’d show two fingers to the establishment. If he wins, it’ll be two fingers, back side and full frontal.
I wouldn’t agree it was decisive, but it almost certainly did him more good than harm, and gave him a boost amongst the electorate just in the run up to the election.
It’s impossible to say one way or the other whether Panorama makes any difference to the outcome. I do agree that it suits Lutfur to play the victim.
Well the auditors are still at work and there’s still a local police investigation into funding of local groups from Lutfur so if he has won because of Panorama then it is still possible that it will be proved that a lot of people have voted for a crook.
Ted … Where are you son …. Give us some updates please….
Read my tweets
Looks like Ted’s given up, can’t stomach the truth. He has left the count.
Ted left the count at the Troxy to walk his sister-in-law home safely due to the crowds.
Ted Jeory is a good lad walking his sister-in-law home.
That is his good deed of the day.
Aw, reconciliation is the lesson of today. The borough needs that spirit, that’s for sure.
Actually, I’d like to be there
Ted, we know you are a good lad. You are our ‘daman’ (in Sylheti) or ‘jamai’ (in proper Bengali).
Ted, how much Bengali have you learnt from your in-laws? Do they speak Sylheti dialect or proper Bengali?
Sylheti. My family are fabulous and they speak Double Dutch to me most of the time. ..
Ted Jeory Matin Miah, I was singing in Sylheti earlier. You should learn the lyrics and impress your in-laws. Your mother-in-law will be proud of such a good ‘daman’.
@robindepeyer · Tower Hamlets update: things have calmed down, but no sign of an official announcement of result yet. It was expected between 3 & 6pm
Racist bigots: Luthfur only won last time ‘cause 23,000 Bangalis voted him in – the turnout was very low, just 20%.
Common Sense: The turnout this time was good – 49%.
Racist bigots: It’s all the Bangalis.
Common Sense: You are being racist. It’s nothing to do with ethnicity. People are fed up with hypocrites and Labours! So please don’t be racist!
Racist bigots: We, racists! How dare you! It’s not over, we’ll commission another Panorama!
“It’s all the Bangalis [sic]” Well it is.
After all nobody else has at least 10 family members living in Tower Hamlets to bring to vote for him and that leaflet was not sent to anybody who wasn’t Bengali.
Lutfur ‘I’m a mayor for a united Tower Hamlets’ Rahman finally exposed himself as interested in only one community among the many in the borough. Proved a point that many had been making over the past 4 years.
London borough of bangladesh
All of you haters here on the blog now down to king luthfur……
Bengali this and Bengali that….. Hope this result shows how passionate Bengalis are about the democratic process….
All hail the king ….
Well in that script written by Vocal between Common Sense and Racist Bigots, you are obviously in the Racist Bigots category.
Vocal could make up what Eastenders script writers could not make up all this time. He just wrote the script and you have been found out.
How much mmmm
You lot really don’t get it (or in English: All of you fail to understand how this drastic demise of English society and the English nation happened.)
In 1947 when India became independent and the racists in India started attacking and murdering each other, causing the top left and the top right of India to become a Moslem-only country called Pakistan, Labour invited everyone to come to Britain because they were “British”.
That was utterly amazing because at the same time Allied armed forces personnel from the European mainland serving in the British Army and in the RAF were deemed by Britain to be “aliens” despite fighting alongside the Brits and risking their lives. For example the Poles but not forgetting everyone who fought against the Nazis. What else can one expect from Labour who were elected in 1945 ?
The hordes from the Indian sub-continent that invaded my country brought with them Indian intolerance, Indian bigotry and Indian corruption. Luckily for us English (and others living here) most of the incomers were hard working, decent and nice people. However Indian’s corrupt and corruption came too. The imported corruption dramatically increased the existing and much smaller amounts of indigenous corruption. The infection has now spread to all sectors of our lives.
Labour the genuinely nasty political party (the Tories aren’t much better) deliberately and consistently opposed community integration into British society. Labour’s multi-cultural bollocks and seducing stupid fools into resurrecting their non-existent in countries there were never born in, significantly contributed to the development of modern ghettos where British residents spurn their host country. If people refuse to integrate I’d chuck ’em out.
In the Bangladeshi-only parts of TH, the inhabitants watch only Bangladeshi tele, follow Bangladeshi customs, obey their Bangladeshi masters and basically reject the host country and everything to do with the host country except state benefits.
Someone born here to Bangladeshi parents is not a Bangladeshi – they are English. This is their country too. There is no excuse whatsoever for an English person not to speak, read and write fluent ENGLISH.
Until the immigrants abusing their host country’s hospitality wake-up and accept they have a duty to integrate into the host country’s society, nothing much will ever improve and the sleaze from the Indian sub-continent will increase.
Now-a-days whenever Labour is involved in elections one can inevitably expect large scale vote rigging and general corruption. Instead of cleaning-up its own mess the white bosses of Labour just ignore that status quo because, ultimately, all Labour want is votes in their favour because they are obsessed with nastiness and political power at any cost.
Labour lost and Rahman won. There is ONLY Labour to blame, but the public at large inevitably suffer.
What a dump England has become.
No good anyone saying or thinking because ultimately Labour are the villains in Tower Hamlets. They also spawned Son of Labour fortified with all Labour’s tricks etc.
Its time for all you enthusiasts to set-up a multi-racial, multi-skin-colour and multi-national Tower Hamlets Residents Party and fight for a better Tower Hamlets. Lazily leaving it to UKIP, Tories or Labour is stupid because nothing much will ever change. Make your destiny rather than wasting your time moaning about the dreadful TH nightmare.
Curious Cat
Is it worth replying to ‘sic’ comments full of inaccuracies and very little understanding of the East End!
Go to the Island (Isle of Dogs, just in case you head towards one in South East Asia), Poplar, Bow, Stepney, Wapping, Bromley, Bethnal Green… and you’ll find hundreds of people with three or four generations who live in Tower Hamlets. East End people always have big families!
Ironically it’s people who have flown in like some disastrous migrating birds who are busy spreading the disease of hatred, racism with their rotten mentality.
Well written script. Eastenders script writers could not make something like this. Your script has exposed all the racist bigots here.
As I said before even Lutfurites believe their campaign too mono-community, and not good for wider cohesion
Ted, Nick McQueen is getting an honorary Bangladeshi citizenship. Since you are our ‘daman’, we’d like to bestow Bangladeshi citizenship onto you first. Also, we give you a honorary Bangladeshi name – Ted Jeory Miah.
Conciliation is the order of the night!
Oh I’m already Ted Matin.
Agree with you Ted, hope the administration realises this and tries to reach out to all. I can see why they did it and it appears the strategy may have worked. But it’s not good for the borough and the people who live in it including the Bangladeshi community. If only the Gilligans. the Panoramas and Ted Jeory s hadn’t taken sides, this could have been an event contest and more Bangladeshis like myself could have been open minded voters. The fact is Lutfur was cornered and his community rallied in support like never before.
I hear Pickles is coming over to recount all the votes himself.
@TowerHamletsNow – Mayor of Tower Hamlets – Poll has gone to the 2nd preference votes
@robindepeyer – Biggs 27k and Rahman 36k. Too close to call in second preference round, I think
Numbers not official.
PWC have found nothing. The Crown Prosecution Service say there is no evidence to mount any prosecution. Mr Pickles should get the bill for PWC’s no doubt extortionate charges unless they also give money to the Tory Party! And, as for Panorama, they should be made to broadcast a full retraction. Pickles wants LBTH to pay for the PWC investigation!!!!
On that basis Lutfur should pay the £37k he spent of public money on lawyers to try and stop the Panorama broadcast.
Jay Kay, we will all chip in to raise 37k and more for Panorama to do a retraction. However, I do not think that’ll be necessary. Panorama actually gave Lutfur a massive boost. They gave him a platform on a national level. Lutfur could never have got such publicity. Ever.
No we won’t.
Well, looks like Nick McQueen might get a honorary citizenship of Bangladesh after tonight.
We will change his name to Nick McQueen Miah.
Well what I want to know are what are the official numbers from the first round.
If only 63k votes were cast for the two leading candidates in the first round – that means there’s some 23.5k votes still to be allocated – assuming 100% of those voters all cast a second vote. That’s the same number of votes as got Rahman elected last time!
Let’s say they didn’t all cast a second vote.
Let’s say there are only 20k votes to be redistributed, what’s the chances they will be allocated equally between Rahman and Biggs. I’d say unlikely.
Let’s say Biggs gets 75% of the hypothetical second votes (ie 15k) then that takes him to 42k votes – which clearly would take him past Rahman – hypothetically
Then the question is how many of those 23.5k voters made Rahman their second vote.
Alternatively ……..
How many of those who voted for other candidates on their first vote also voted for other candidates on their second vote as well. (Could we be going to a third round?)
If a lot of Labour voted Green as their second vote does it also work the other way round.
Plus I’m inclined to think the Conservatives will have picked Biggs as the better option for their second vote
UKIP is the unknown – mainly because they’re the “None of the Above” voters. In a way they might be the ones most likely to have abstained from a second vote
I’m not sure where Rahman will pick up second votes from – other than presumably people voting for the other Bangladeshi candidates.
[Or have I misunderstood how the second count works?]
I think the Greens were backing Rahman.
And apparently some UKIP put the Trade Union as 2nd.
You almost have it, except that the second preferences of votes for Rahman and Biggs don’t matter (assuming they -are- the top two). Only the second preferences on the ballots that had a first preference for an eliminated candidate get re-allocated in the second round–i.e., every ballot that didn’t have Rahman or Biggs as first preference. In a sense, Labour and THF voters had a free hand to offer moral support to a candidate they knew wasn’t going to get to the second round.
I almost envy you lot in Tower Hamlets for having ‘interesting’ politics, as opposed to the Blessed Sir Robin’s well-oiled machine we’ve got operating here. Almost.
Correct – the 23.5k votes which remain unallocated until their second preferences are counted.
The 23.5k splits into 4 categories
1. those that voted for Rahman as 2nd preference
2. those that voted for Biggs as 2nd preference
3. those that voted for somebody else as 2nd preference
4. those that didn’t express a 2nd preference
So the critical question is how many fall into that 3rd and 4th category – because they reduce the pool that Rahman and Biggs are now fighting over.
Biggs will certainly have the bigger share but by how much?
My “guesstimate” is that 50% of 2nd preference votes will go to Biggs, 10% to Rahman, 40% to neither.
Assume that the 1st preferences were 36k Rahman, 27k Biggs, 23.5k others. This leads to final totals of 38.75k Biggs, 38.35 Rahman.
Certainly too close to call!
I’d say that’s a pretty good guess.
You do realise if it’s that close one or the other of the candidates will demand a recount! 😉
@TowerHamletsNow · News from the Troxy – Local ward counts will take place straight after the mayoral declaration.
Personally I think that’s a big mistake. There’s a lot of tired people who need to have a decent night’s sleep.
Then they’ve got the EU election count on Sunday.
On the other hand if they asked the counting team what they would rather do, carry on or come back on Saturday that would be different.
I reckon they’ll get all next week off!
Okay people, I’m bored now. Going to bed, just reremember the lines below.
Some things in life are bad
They can really make you sad
Other things just make you swear and curse
When you’re chewing on life’s gristle
Don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help things turn out for the best…
And…
…always look on the bright side
of life…
Goodnight all
Remember my prediction about Labour councillors jumping ship if Rahman wins……..
You could not make it up!!
Steady on mate. I already mentioned the ‘jumping ship’ phenomenon is my 10 reasons to vote Lutfur. Do not copy. We know you are very good at copying and pasting.
I mentioned Lab cllrs ‘jumping ship’ phenomenon on 15 May at 8.41am in response to Ted’s post about Lutfur ducking yet another hustings….on cycling deaths in TH. Look it up.
You could not make it up……yu commit an offence of ‘passing off’ or lacking original ideas by claiming this was your prediction. You naughty boy.
That’s two strikes for you for: (1) making racist comments and trying to do a U-turn this evening and sounding even more xenophobic and (2) stealing ideas from me.
Three strikes and you will be out!!
Do grow up for goodness sake!
First, you actually haven’t been around for long enough to have participated in all the conversations on this blog.
Second, there’s nothing original in a prediction that Councillors will switch parties – certain Councillors have been doing it for years in Tower Hamlets!
Yes, I need to grow up so I can be more like you? Racist with clearly xenophobic views.
You admit to stealing my idea by saying “there is nothing original” in it. Yet, the way you expressed it, “Remember my prediction…..”. Except it was not your prediction. You do not have any original ideas. You only have racist, xenophobic ideas. You will repeat it without realising that you are doing it again. If you had good judgment, you would not shoot yourself in the foot so many times.
@TedJeory: Lutfur final vote 37395, Biggs 34143….Lutfur got 856 sec pref votes, Biggs took 7k…but not enough. Congratulations @MayorLutfur
No – I’m saying your idea is not original (i.e. it’s not your idea – a lot of people had it before you) – but it’s a waste of time trying to converse with somebody who manages to misunderstand so much of what is written by others.
PS Sorry Ted – you seem to have got squeezed into the middle of this little bit of bickering
Looks like Luthfur is getting a bit more of the second votes than expected although biggsy has a massives grin on his face…… Oh we love the politics in Tower Hamlets …. Dirty as ever…this year is no exception.
Labour the party of convenience … Use and abuse … Them jump ship… I say do to the party what the party does to you.
Labour party is in special measures in TH. This is why such ‘special’ things happen in TH Labour party.
http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2014/05/the-polls-are-open-in-tower-hamlets/
1:17: No official announcement yet but Rahman’s supporters and Rahman himself have congregated on the count floor and appear to be celebrating. Labour supporters gathered with Biggs who is look dejected. Photos and video to follow shortly.
@TowerHamletsNow · Estimated announcement in 15minutes
Ok folks…. All about to be declared…… Luthfur will be crowned as the king
@TowerHamletsNow · Mayor of Tower Hamlets election result will be declared shortly!
@TowerHamletsNow · We are minutes away from declaring the results of the mayoral elections in Tower Hamlets.
Ted, congratulations to you as well. You worked really hard today. You brought us news throughout the day. You are part of the Bangladeshi community – good old Matin bai, Ted Miah.
Laughing. Dhonnobad!
Yes Ted … Even though your man lost…your updates were good… And a big thank you to the rest of bloggers thank you for an entertaining day….. The business end has been completed… Now for the rest pointless cllr to be decided..
Sounds like “the others” voted for “the others” or didn’t express a preference at all?
Does that mean those voting for “none of the above” won it for Lutfur?
Ok… All declared Luthfur won by 5500 more votes than Biggsy….. Slap slap slap to the bigots and nutters who cursed the bungoli Sasa’s at the polling station. Looks like all the Luthfur volunteers did a fantastic job. Ted you can go to sleep now……. Poor Ted….
Incorrect, the majority was 3,792 (i.e. Final vote was Lutfur 37395, Biggs 34143)
UKIP polled 4819 – so I reckon a number will conclude they’ve managed to disrupt politics here too.
I’m naively thinking and hopeing, this means the mayor has less power from before?
Majority is 3252 – I think you are all a bit tired.
Thank you Andrew Conway. How are you feeling after the result? Any reactions?
This is a reply to “Man on Clapham Omnibus”. There is no reply option shown for some reason. however, these are my thoughts on the result:
Basically, I’m not happy.
1) UKIP advised voters not to cast a 2nd preference. You could say “It was UKIP wot won it”.
2) It is very clear that Lutfur drew his support almost entirely from the Bangladeshi community who supported him solidly. The other 68% of the electorate had a lower turnout, and failed to unite behind a single candidate, despite the supplementary vote system.
3) During the past 4 years, Lutfur has made little attempt to court support amongst the majority community:
a) He attends few meetings or events of secular organisations (eg hustings, tenants associations).
b) The grants system has been used to support groups focused on religion, ethnicity or language in preference to those seeking to support the whole community.
c) There has been a marked insensitivity to the widespread distaste for status symbols (the chauffeur driven Merc and photographs plastered everywhere).
d) Whether legal or not, the financial advantages granted to political allies is seen as highly unethical (eg the sale of Poplar Town Hall, over generous funding for channel S).
e) At council meetings, jeering and abuse of opponents is tolerated, if not encouraged; and conversations are frequently carried out in the Sylheti language.
4) I concede that some policies have won him some non-Bangladeshi support, such as EMA and funding for some faith buildings; but the numbers of non-Bangladeshis who voted for him, I suspect, are small. Furthermore, he has clearly claimed attempted to take credit for the success of others, such as improvements in exam results.
5) There have been attacks on several councillors base on personal abuse – Helal Abbas, Peter Golds, Shiria Khatun, Josh Peck, Jon Pierce, Zenith Rahman, Khales Ahmed are just a few examples. I see this as extremely distasteful.
6) I believe that politics divided on ethnic lines is extremely unhealthy for democracy, and I can only hope that there are changes in his political style over the next 4 years.
Congratulations to Mayor, his team and all those families with 10 members (you know who you are).
Ted, ‘onek onek dhonnobad’ to you mate. You worked your socks off. You’ll now need more socks for the next four years.
For those of you who complain about Bengali this, Bengali that, I was just saying ‘many many thanks’ to our Ted.
Just been listening to BBC Radio. A caller described Lutfur as the best elected politician in the country. I could not agree more. It is unbelievable what Lutfur’s achieved faced with unprecedented cuts from central govt.
If I was going to waste any more time on this blog, I’d go through all the ‘expert predictions’, ‘knowledgeable insiders’ and other tellers of fables that the author of this blog had encouraged, mimicked and joined in over the last few days here – all those telling us exactly how Lutfur will lose and employs all sorts of racism (indirect and direct). Idiots, one and all,
But this is the last thread here I will bother with. It was good to see Lutfur elected, not because I like him much but to thwart the nasty underhand attempts to smear him: from the Panorama programme quoting the oh-so-neutral Tory Minister (Pickles), a weekly diet of gutter journalism in the Telegraph and Standard to stuff here that read like it was written by Biggs. All you dreams are as dust.
regards to Clapham.
Southpaw, it would be sad to lose your valuable insights. So, do not go away.
It is sometimes quite grim here on this blog, but let’s not take it too seriously. Let’s have a laugh. Maybe one or two people will change their views and sound more ‘normal’.
The bottom line is most of these guys who post their ridiculous, xenophobic views are an irrelevant and insignificant minority living in a bubble. If they represented the majority view, Lutfur would have been trounced. But, Lutfur won and we know he is the best elected politician in the country. They might deride him in so many ways, but he just marches on with a mandate from a bigger number of people this time. He is more popular than ever before. He has secured a historic victory. Let’s TH Labour party will now become a complete irrelevance.
(1) The Mayor should be accountable to ALL the public.
(2) The Mayor should serve ALL the public.
Curious Cat.
Let us look some of Lutfur’s flagship policies:
1. Affordable homes – allocated to everyone irrespective of their ethnicity
2. EMA – available to all college kids
3. Uni grants – benefits all who are eligible
4. Free homecare – benefits everyone who needs it.
None of the above is designed to benefit only one section of the borough’s population. All of the above are available to all people of TH irrespective of their ethnicity or religion.
In relation to above, please note the below:
1. Lutfur built most no of affordable homes in the country
2. Only borough in the country to give EMA to kids when the govt abolished it
3. Only borough in the UK to give uni grants
4. Only borough in the country to still provide free homecare.
Do you see why Lutfur is considered the best elected politician in the country?
You hear all sorts of bad things about Lutfur, but you never hear that he is incompetent. He is the most competent local politician in the UK in terms of his record in office.
=> Clapham
Please explain in precise terms what you, or your hero The Mayor, actually mean by
Sometimes the term is used to mean homes rented from private landlords such as Housing Associations and the worse types of exploitative landlords. All private rentals cost more than council rentals. Housing Associations (now officially known as “private registered providers of social housing” ***) charge more than councils, are often dismissive of their responsibilities and charge an additional
Not everyone in this declining country is rich and is a meaningless term when used without the context of a renter’s disposal income.
Affordable to a millionaire is substantially different from affordable to a low paid worker. So less of the political claptrap and more factual details please.
*** http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/844/schedule/1/paragraph/5/made
Curious Cat.
MOTCO – my reply to you is above. We seem to have posted at about the same time. I agree with your points 2,3 and 4, but question whether Lutfur is entitled to claim credit for the affordable homes.
This is a more productive political discussion. Unfortunately many of the other contributions during the campaign have been insults and abuse;
and not well reasoned debate.
MOTCO – All your so-called flagship policies only benefit one section of the community and Rahman cannot take credit for the most affordable homes built – they were built by developers. he also favours one section of the community with his ‘grant’ giving.
I am really pleased Lutfur Rahman got in again – well done Tower Hamlets First !
He was by far the better candidate considering Labour had continued to fail the working class on so many issues and all the other candidates were reactionary and using negative publicity.
Does anyone KNOW the results for Spitalfields “and Banglatown”? I have heard hideous rumours… no results have been posted on the borough website yet.
Both labour OUT. Forget that, I’m seeing Saunders is about to go as well. Talk about ‘decapitation’ of the Labour party. All the leaders gone. I have a bad feeling about Carlo Gibbs as well.
Rachel Saunders, Josh Peck and Denise Jones have been elected but Abdal Ullah and Anwar Khan have not.
I suspect Anwar is having the most enormous tantrum.
I see now… THF won both seats. Anyone know the results in WEAVERS?
Councillors ward election results are being posted on http://moderngov.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgElectionResults.aspx?ID=22&V=1&RPID=3125824
Here’s what’s been posted so far
Election summary for Wards
Bow West
Asma Begum Labour
Joshua Peck Labour
Bromley North
Khales Uddin Ahmed Labour
Mohammed Mufti Miah Tower Hamlets First
Canary Wharf
Md. Maium Miah Tower Hamlets First
Andrew George Wood Conservative
Lansbury
Ohid Ahmed Tower Hamlets First
Rajib Ahmed Labour
Shiria Khatun Labour
Limehouse
Craig Aston Conservative
Mile End
Shah Alam Tower Hamlets First
David Edgar Labour
Rachael Saunders Labour
Poplar
Gulam Kibria Choudhury Tower Hamlets First
Shadwell
Rabina Khan Tower Hamlets First
Harun Miah Tower Hamlets First
Spitalfields & Banglatown
Suluk Ahmed Tower Hamlets First
Gulam Robbani Tower Hamlets First
St Dunstan’s
Mahbub (Mamun) Alam Tower Hamlets First
Ayas Miah Labour
St Katharine’s & Wapping
Julia Louise Dockerill Conservative
Denise Jones Labour
Stepney Green
Alibor Choudhury Tower Hamlets First
Oliur Rahman Tower Hamlets First
Whitechapel
Shahed Ali Tower Hamlets First
Abdul Asad Tower Hamlets First
Aminur Khan Tower Hamlets First
The results by party to date are as follows
Election results by party
Tower Hamlets First 15 seats 38.41% of vote
Labour 9 seats 37.61% of vote
Conservative 3 seats 12.16% of vote
So far TWENTY SEVEN of the FORTY FIVE available seats have been announced.
FIFTEEN have gone to THF.
NINE have gone to Labour
THREE have gone to Conservative
ALL the THF councillors are Bangladeshi and FIVE of the Labour councillors are also Bangladeshi. NONE of the Tory councillors are Bangladeshi.
This means 20 of the 27 returned councillors so far are Bangladeshi which represents 74% of the councillors, when their community according to the 2011 Census (which we all know is wrong) only constitute 32% of the population.
The non-Bengali community has been systematically under-represented by frankly racist THF voters who only vote for their own community.
How dare you call the voters racists you vile bigot…! Bet you wouldn’t have said that outside the troxy last night…..
It is not only Bengalis voting on ethnic lines. The poll in Canary Wharf ward suggests that many (presumably white) voters were willing to support Andrew Wood, but not Ahmed Hussein. I don’t call the voters racist, but the tendency to vote according to ethnicity is not a good sign.
Outside the Troxy last night, the crowd of Lutfur supporters was 100% Asian (as far as I saw), and all of the women wore hijabs. That is an observation, not a criticism.
Yes, I saw the Ahmed Hussain issue as well. Very troubling. He was a good councillor until he lost in 2010. In this campaign he was to a degree shunned by the Bengali community for standing as a Tory (v sad), and not trusted by whites for being a Bengali (sadder).
His plight is perhaps the best symbol of what’s gone wrong.
I am deeply disturbed that my ward has 3 THF male councillors. They and their representatives warmly canvassed male voters in my area, were vague and off-hand with women with or without a hijab, and didn’t attempt to engage with non Bengali people. Very sad that after 86 years of universal suffrage that I feel unrepresented. This is so sad for democracy and equality.
I think many people could document cases which received short shrift from Councillors – sometimes because they’re not interested, sometimes because they’re just plain lazy, sometimes because they don’t have clue about what to do.
However if a whole ward were to now find that the nature of their problems were not addressed because these were ‘women’s issues’ and helping women was not worth their time then that is very definitely something which should be documented.
However we are speculating – and it hasn’t happened – so let’s be optimistic
Let’s assume that Councillors representing a Council which wishes to embrace multi-culturalism will also embrace the problems and issues of EVERY member of the community irrespective of their gender, age, cultural background or whatever – and give all fair treatment and equal support
Let’s also let Councillors know that we’ll be watching as well to see whether or not this happens
Maybe Ted or somebody should start a blog to document all the issues which are NOT being properly addressed by any Councillor for whatever reason – no matter what their politics?
I’m the vile bigot?? ROFL.
No I would not have dared say anything outside the Troxy because Lutfur’s neo-fascist henchmen would no doubt have given me a kicking for daring to criticise your führer. The fact you don’t see the connection between your veiled threats of violence and the fact that everyone your refer to who was outside the Troxy was a different race to me is really quite bizarre.
Personal question, but did struggle to pass your exams?
So Lutfur remains as Mayor of TH. “Man on the Clapham Omnibus” claims all the good things he has done, I agree with most of them except the new homes bit, HE has built none, the RSL’s have.Perhaps if he had not squandered so much of OUR money on targeted, self promoting projects and instead spent it on social housing, I would agree.
Little old me would like to give him some advice: Get rid of your advisors, and employ a good PR advisor, that “could” stop the national bad publicity constantly emanating from TH.
Put into place a lay panel of residents from all sections of the community to fairly decide on grants. That panel to ensure that grant conditions are met.
Answer questions at council meetings. If David Cameron can, surely he can.
Stop making decisions behind closed doors as these decisions will always appear “dodgy”.
But beware Lutfur…Throughout history, in all realms of governance, elected leaders have not done it alone, devious people with their own agendas have shouldered that leader into the position, and they will want their pound of flesh.
Our Mayor has been elected and lets hope that in every decision he takes, takes religious or religious bias out of the equation.
Its time for some peace!
John Wright, thank you for your comment. You are right in that the affordable homes were built by a different entity (not the council). However, Lutfur ensured that 35% or more homes (as opposed to 5% in other boroughs) in those developments were affordable. Central government awarded bonuses in recognition of Lutfur’s affordable house building programme. Why don’t you set up a meeting with the Mayor and/or his lead member for housing and try to understand the figures?
John Wright, with due respect, I think you may be confused seeing the names of RSLs in various developments and not realising Lutfur and his administration’s involvement in those projects.
By way of analogy, if Veolia comes to collect our bins, we know that Veolia is doing it on behalf of the council. It’d be foolish to say the council does not collect our bins, but Veolia does. If the RSLs are building homes, we should realise that they are also building some stock for the council. Anyway, I urge you to investigate this point further.
MOTCO – You are the one who is confused. What stock has any RSL built for the council?
You might want to check the actual facts before you make assertions like that
1) a lot of the houses built were based on planning permissions approved by the Labour Council prior to 2010.
2) Not all the schemes actually achieved 35% affordable housing TARGET – a problem which continues to be faced by housing schemes.
3) The funds for the social housing are provided by central government – unlike the funds provided for the Veolia contract which are provided by the Council
If you want to disagree, maybe you could back up your assertions with some facts.
How about an analysis of the number of social housing units – broken down by site and the % of affordable units and bedspaces actually achieved?
Don’t forget to remove from the number of new units achieved the number of existing social housing units which were not at the end of their life and were capable of refurbishment but were demolished to make way for the new units which
* either provided higher density accommodation
* or delivered sites for new private housing as part of the development.
We’re actually focusing on the number of NET new social housing units and the no. of NET new bedspaces.
How many actual additional REAL bedspaces have been achieved? Back up claims with facts and details!
=> Clapham wrote:-
In law Veolia don’t. The council does.
Who would dream of saying that block with Chelsey FC on his tee-shirt, or Mohammed Khan, Fred Bloggs or Zbigniew Kosnik collected the bins. In law, it is the council doing it.
In law RSLs (old name = Registered Social Landlord, new name = Registered Private Provider of Social Housing (usually publicly funded)) are de facto “authorities” in some of their activities and do NOT build houses on behalf of any local authority.
Curious Cat.
John, Thank you for getting the council meetings videoed and put online. They have been illuminating.
Ditto.
Maybe Ted could allow us to have a thread for nominations and voting for the John Wright Award for the Worst Histrionic and TOTT Performance by a Councillor in the LBTH Council Chamber
BTW I note that Cllr Anwar Khan failed to get re-elected after also failing to be selected by the Labour Party. Can’t think why his name suddenly sprang to my mind…….
but those videos have definitely been an education…….
With his 100% Muslim cabinet to which he has never appointed a non-Muslim, and 100% Muslim Councillors, it’s hard to believe the extremist linked and homophobic Rahman’s claims to serve all communities. Some people would call that racist.
In the light of these results Lutfur will only get more confident and deaf to needs and concerns of other communities. I expect more aggressive attacks on white people (like Shahed Ali’s threats to Victoria Park residents) and more arrogant attitudes to council tax payers (like Rabina Khan’s travel expenses or Lutfur’s advisors and chauffers).
It seems that the choice for non-Bangladeshi residents is now between leaving the borough or engaging in more direct self defense activities. Monitoring, reporting, discussing, tweeting, blogging stories of Lutfur’s corruption and incompetence made no difference in the last 4 years. Civilised political processes do not work when oponents drive their back of chicken/curry shop agendas in a secretive and racist way without even trying to pretend they want to appeal to anyone but their tribesmen.
Lutfur had a chance to show he is above it all, to unite comunities, make people proud to live in TH, to show that a great politician can be of any origin. Yet his limited intellectual capability, lack of self esteem, greed and deep rooted resentment towards white people drove him to focus on Bangladeshis only. Refusing answering questions, buying votes by subsidising Bengali organisations, running a single community campaign showed it all quite clearly.
Ted, Panorama, Labour, me – were all naive thinking that we can make any difference by simply exposing Lutfur’s true face. Bangladeshis took this education as patronising, they went to vote for money and perks they can get only from Lutfur and only here. It would be insane to think that another four years of simply pretending Bangladeshis can think like us will make any difference.
Reporting, educating, trying to promote dialogue simply did not work and will not work against such foreign – in a political culture sense – community. We either change the demographics of TH by filling skyscrapers with multicultural crowd or TH will remain a sad example for the rest of the country of what can happen when democracy is replaced by raceocracy.
After four years in charge Lutfur did not have a single white person cheering his victory outside Troxy yesterday. This pretty much summarises my point…
I’m certain that Lutfur-bhai’s feral supporters will be along any second now to denounce this as wacist, but you have pretty much summed up the feelings of a lot of people.
I, amongst many in my areas have been unamused by the self-serving, dodgy — and frankly embarrassing — antics of the powers-that-be in this borough, and had considered getting politically active; alas, ahead of skyrocketing rent and lack of energy (yes, I belong to a certain demographic that isn’t being showered by endless freebies by my political patrons), I sadly chose to leave the borough completely and take my family (and council taxes) with me.
I’ve given up, which is a shame, because I grew to love my adopted home, but in the end, the people have once again gotten the government they deserve, and I want absolutely no part of it.
The next 4 years, if he lasts that long, will be most telling. The power-mad Lutfur’s greed and arrogance will be his downfall as Panorama indicated. He will continue to claim racism to any challenge of his behaviour and in doing so cheapen the use of the word further.
Shaded Ali’s arrogance towards tax is already well know. He avoided a £25,000 tax bill by closing his restaurant then reopening it under a new name. He then arrogantly uploaded a picture of a Porsche to his Facebook page boasting he bought it from the proceeds.
Another clown who is playing the race card… Oh how the tables have turned. Love hearing you lot squirm…. Long May it continue.
Imagine how proud you would be if Lutfur won with all communities vote and not just one. Think Obama or even Newham to keep it local. Imagine the boost for Bangladeshi community, its culture, history, ambitions.
If Lutfur saw a bigger picture and was capable of learning he could make history and do more for Bangladeshi community than anyone else before him. Yet he went down the easy and lazy route of playing it safe…playing it small. He and his mercedes will soon be forgotten but distrust towards Bangladeshis will remain among local people for long.
This cancer will one day be excised.
Wait for another 4 years and maybe then you can try again… For now let every enjoy the ride while you cry your eyes out…
Bow down to your new king! King Luthfur
Dear Jay Kay….I will not comment on the Muslim argument, but regarding the homophobic comment…….This old has queen has NEVER been the butt of homophobic comments from the Mayor or the majority of councillors. However I believe that some councillors are homophobic, but they are not restricted to THF.
Man on the Clapham Omnibus – We must agree to disagree. Many developments on ex-council estates (our land) have been built against huge local objections which have been ignored. (I do understand that the council try to meet government set targets.) But to the misery of existing residents? Our once community led estates have been turned into sterile, over densified ones.
For whose good? THE RICH AND NOW RICHER DEVELOPERS!
Everyone………Keep a very good eye on the intentions for Holland Estate! Wink! Wink! Its going to be the biggest stitch up for existing residents in history.
John. Amongst other things, Rahman’s appointed cabinet member for Education, Oliur Rahman, campaigned with a group of others for the ‘unacceptability of homosexuality.’ That included you.
Andrew Conway and Ted Jeory, both of you are guilty of very simplistic analysis in relation to how Canary Wharf voters elected their councillors. That is the problem when you see things only on ethnic lines and do not go deeper.
Andrew, you are wrong to say that people voted for Andrew Wood but not Ahmed Hussain because the latter is Bengali. The thing is they did vote for a Bengali councillor, namely Maium Miah of THF. Do you see where your analysis has gone wrong?
Ted, you are wrong to suggest that Bengali voters shunned Hussain because he was standing as a Tory. Far from it. They just preferred Maium Miah. You also suggested that white voters presumably did not like Hussain, because he is Bengali. No, they elected another Bengali – Maium Miah. Miah defeated Hussain by 47 votes, which means people also did vote for Hussain.
Anyway, how can you both expect to be taken seriously in modern Britain today by linking the ethnicity of voters to the ethnicity of their representatives without facts, but purely on your assumptions?
Ted, your final conclusion is the worst that Canary Wharf is an example of what’s gone wrong (based on your inaccurate assumptions as opposed to facts). I would say that Canary Wharf is a good example of what is great about London, modern Britain and cosmolitan TH – its voters elected a white councillor as well as a Bengali councillor. 50/50. Both will work side by side to represent the interests of people living in that ward. Miah will bring a different perspective which Wood perhaps would not and vice versa.
It’s what the man himself believed, go figure.
And talking of figures, how to explain those several hundred Tory voters who did back Andrew but not Ahmed? What happened to their hovering pencils?
The only thing “great” about so-called “modern Britain” is the danger its indigenous people are in.
Tony Blair, Barbara Roche and the rest will one day answer for their treason.
Ted Jeory, with all due respect, you are talking absolute nonsense. Andrew Wood got 87 more votes than Ahmed Hussain. At least check the figures, do the maths before saying “several hundred Tory voters backed Andrew but not Ahmed”.
Then, you ask a ridiculous question – “what happened to their hovering pencils?”. Ted, this is local election, not general election. People will vote on local issues and it is not uncommon to have councillors from different parties in the same ward. I am sure you know this, but I think you become so desperate to come up with any argument (spurious or otherwise) to discredit Lutfur and achievements that you leave your common sense at the door. Please do the decent thing and only make genuine arguments. Thank you very much.
Apologies, I was writing from memory which is deserting me. This wasn’t about attacking Lutfur by the way but questioning why some Tories didn’t vote for Ahmed.
I think most people vote by blocks unless there’s something specific that deters a split vote.
Ahmed feels his Bengali heritage was a factor, and so do I.
There’s another factor which has followed Ahmed during his years in LBTH politics: he’s from Dhaka, not Sylhet.
View on that?
I think that you are missing the fact that consistently across the borough, Bengali THF candidates did better than white THF candidates where both were standing in the same ward.Similarly white Conservative candidates did better than Bengali conservative candidates. Furthermore, those at the count observed ballot papers with cross party, same ethnicity votes.
This clearly suggests voting on ethnic lines.
Jay Kay .I totally accept what you say, and it is a disgrace. If someone is homophobic they should have the common sense to keep their trap shut. Especially someone with that position. My comment was a personal one, mind you most of them wouldn’t have the guts to say it to my face.
.
John, a homophobe is, by definition, a hater of all homosexuals and homosexuality. They don’t make exceptions therefore it is personal towards all homosexuals.
Are you seriously suggesting Oli of all people is a homophobe?
Oli of all people? You couldn’t be wider of the mark.
I suggest you take what Gilligan prints with a whole mine of salt.
Surprised you’re allowing this on here, Ted.
I said he with others, campaigned for the ‘unacceptability of homosexuality’. Are you saying he didn’t?
oldford1 is a typical communist. He likes to have people shut up. He likes to close down conversations he does not approve of.
oldford1 doesn’t seem to have much conversation on the subject.
Yes, I am and I’m saying that that assertion is grossly defamatory and libellous.
I believe what Gilligan actually means is something like this:
There was a public meeting about sex education in a mosque, where parents came together. There was a panel at the meeting. Oli sat on the panel to represent the council and its position. The panel also included a guy called Yusuf Patel, from a pressure group. He used to be in Hizb-ut-Tahrir, his organisation was later shown to outrageous homophobic positions and in my limited experience of him he seemed fairly narrow-minded and bigoted.
But you’d be hard pushed to find a more social liberal on that council than Oli.
Jack Straw once sat on a panel with Nick Griffin. That didn’t mean he was campaigning for the BNP.
I think it’s desperately irresponsible to smear Bengali councillors like this – it’s what I call guilt by six degrees of separation.
So he sat on a platform with others campaigning for the unacceptability of homosexuality. You’ll find that’s what I said.
There are 5 facts about homos
(1) It can not be turned on or off like with a light switch.
(2) It is genetic
(3) The gene is derived from the mother – never from the father
(4) Homos are Human Beings
(5) Homos can, and do, contribute to society – my favour composer Tchaikovsky was alleged to have been homo but that never stopped me loving his wonderful music
People should not be judged on what they do in private inside the bedroom (or in other private places)
Tower Hamlets has many bigger and much more urgent problems than some people’s sexual activities.
Curious Cat
Actually it’s quite a big problem and will get worse. Lutfur refuses to condemn the homophobic behaviour in and out of the council chamber both from his Councillors and his supporters drafted into the public gallery. Lutfur has also shown his hostility for non-Muslim culture by amongst other things, threatening gay pubs with closure.
I do not believe that either Oli or Lutfur are personally hostile to gay people. However, during council meetings there is a stream of homophobic abuse (mainly directed against Peter Golds, Josh Peck and others) from THF supporters in the public gallery. The mayor and his councillors do little to prevent or discourage it.
There’s an interesting legal issue which arises if the Council’s designated officers (the Mayor?) do NOT prevent illegal activity within the Council Chamber by people other than the Councillors.
I guess sooner or later somebody will take the Council and the individuals to Court on this matter.
If it’s shown to be persistent and appropriate action has not been routinely taken then it also becomes a conduct and standards issue for the responsible personnel.
Sadly events suggest otherwise.
@Oldford1 – i’m not sure it is possible to defame someone who is anonymous.
You couldn’t make it up!…….I’m blushing!
Well – why not?
There’s nothing like shining a spotlight on a bit of amdram! 😉
Go for it John – draw up a shortlist of your favourite moments of TOTT shenanigans
Maybe change the name to “The John Wright Drama Queen Award?” 😉
Mayor Rahman now has full control of the Council. No more Josh Pecks’ blocking his choice for CEO or those endless wrangling about passing budgets. Let’s hope he has some decent new councillors to strengthen his cabinet. Just a shame he won’t have the luxury of choosing from a more diverse group.
I’m puzzled – how exactly do you work that one out?
I make it that there are four more wards to declare – each having 3 Councillors so that means we still need to find out the results for 12 seats before we know what the overall numbers for the new Council might be.
Blackwall & Cubitt Town (3 Councillors)
Bow East (3 Councillors)
Bethnal Green (3 Councillors)
St Peter’s (3 Councillors)
Not to mention Island Gardens, Bromley South and Weavers
When will these results be known? Are they counting them today or tomorrow or Monday?
Count re-starts tomorrow 2pm (except for Blackwall & Cubitt Town countermanded poll). It looks as if no party will have an overall majority.
I quite look forward to it too. I’m hoping that Lutfur and Bangla First, unfettered, will lose the plot so badly, that when they DO come unstuck — and mark my words, it’s not a matter of if, but when — it will be even more spectacular than it would have been otherwise.
I have a nice bottle of champagne in the fridge for the occasion.
There could be a Lab/Con pact to gain control or defections to THF to give them control. We don’t know yet.
Had Lutfur fielded any non-Muslim Councillors he’d have increased his chances by 100% of having a more diverse group to choose from.
Lutfur did field non-Muslim candidates but THF voters don’t seem to like them much and didn’t vote for any of them – which illustrates the sectarian politics that LBTH has fallen into ever since Lord Haw Haw von Galloway ….
For example, Stuart Madewell (such an Ironic surname) stood for THF in Wapping and he only got about 300 votes. The Census says there are 2,500 people of Bengali heritage in Wapping.
Madewell was Lutfur’s stooge. He was too stupid to see it. He had no chance and was up against a non-Muslim candidate for one seat.
Voters will vote for the candidates that they believe can deliver. That is called democracy. The issues of ethnicity, colour and creed are the manifestation of minds that are filled with racist tendencies but disguised as ‘civilised’!
The so called ‘Bangladeshis’ are mostly BRITISH! To term them as ‘Bangladeshis’ is racist, discriminative and manipulative, and driven by a sinister evil motive! These discriminators should face the law – the law of the land to which they have very little regard.
No one goes round the Parliament and counts how many Jewish MPs are there and whether the number equates to the number of Jewish people in the UK. Why then do the racists make an issue of the Bangladeshis in Tower Hamlets!
Vocal — help me out here:
What is it, about the mere mention of the outsized domination of TH politics by the Bangladeshi community (for its own ends), that grinds the gears of you activists so much? The answer eludes me.
You work as a group, and collaborate politically as a group — in your case — Bangladeshis of mostly Syhleti extraction. You are certainly looking after your own interests as this group (and good for you!) — so what is so inflammatory about us discussing this? Are you afraid that deep down in your heart, you know what you are doing is possibly wrong, but you’re being called out on it in public?
Playing the race card is a really poor debating tactic, but one you and your chums around TH are so fond of playing. I do suggest you Google “ad hominem argument”. It’s also an excellent way to look like an intellectual lightweight and lose an argument.
Almost as common and more ludicrous, is Jew-envy. Almost as weak a debating tactic, and a surefire indication that somebody likely of Islamic religious persuasion is losing an argument in progress. Very silly.
Vocal wrote:-
In immigrant communities from the Indian sub-continent that is sheer bollocks.
Some can’t read and write in any language (some can and do so very well, like Clapham for instance). Some are TOLD what to vote and usually helped to fill-in their postal votes.
Why should anyone who signs their name with a thumb print get a postal vote which is subsequently signed with a real signature ???? Vote fraud methinks.
Just whom do you think you are fooling?
You forgot about the BBC with a large disproportionate quantity of Jews.
However Jews, or Judaism, is a religion. Being a Bangladeshi is not a religion. Spot the difference ???
Curious Cat.
Very silly indeed. Firstly… I am not a Bengali! The fact that you have made that assumption sums up my argument and shows your intellect in clear daylight!
Been a long time since I bothered commenting on here let alone bother to read, but due to some of the racists from gilligan’s blog getting back into their closets… the closet being this blog along with Lutfur’s legitimate democratic win (until someone cries foul again), just had to see how much people on here are stressed and pulling their hair out…. we’ll worth it.
But anyway on a serious note the wait has been very worth it for me to be able to come on here and say the following:
LMFAO!!!!!! (If I knew how to enlarge and embolden that I would along with bells on)
The knowledge that most of you will be kept frothing at the mouths for another 4 years (and it will be 4 years – don’t pin any hopes on fat-pickles investigation) will keep me away from coming on here again…. until at least 2018.
Keep up the good work Ted…. I’m not going to say ‘none of this could have been possible’ without you and that gimp gilligan, but SOME of it has been possible down to the likes of yourselves.
PS – hope all the above are to people’s English, grammatical and of course syntax liking…… if not…… I really couldn’t give a flying f**k.
Snigger…. :-).. Well said
I could feel quite sorry for Lutfur’s flock of sheep who post here.if they weren’t so racist and lacking in ability to put across an alternative view point without being so childish.
If Biggs were Mayor and amongst many other things, he swanned around in a Merc to collect his dry cleaning costing the public 60K a year or if he spent £37k of public money on lawyers trying to stop people seeing what he’s been up to, or refused to answer questions so that we could hear what he’s up to, or if he’d flogged off council assets to close personal acquaintances or if he had an all white, non-Muslim cabinet, or if he’d diverted hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money to groups serving mainly one section of the community, some of which don’t exist, have no track record or operate form someone’s front room, would they be saying the same things?
Lutfur invited us to judge him on his record. So I have.
Ted, your apology is accepted regarding the margin of Ahmed Hussain’s defeat. I now understand that you were not checking the figures when you posted your comment (you were probably too tired from yesterday).
Anyway, it is human nature to look for excuses when you lose, which is what Hussain is doing. He is saying that his Bangladeshi (Dhaka) heritage was a factor. I beg to differ. He came extremely close to winning. He would have been home and dry with only 47 more votes. Instead, Maimum Miah got those exra votes, because he was a sitting councillor. That certainly helps.
The best thing would be for Hussain to lose gracefully and not look for excuses. There will always be winners and losers in a democracy.
There can sometimes be issues around being from Dhaka as opposed to Sylhet amongst the Bangladeshi community in the UK. It is similar to perceptions of one being a northerner or a southerner in England. However, it becomes a non-issue when you are good enough.
Ahmed has never once told me he’s from Dhaka, let alone used it as an excuse to me. Let me be clear about that.
I think he’ll have another shot before too long anyway.
=> Clapham
Don’t be nasty. Ted explained. Ted does not need to apologise to anyone. I neither accept nor want an apology from Ted.
Do try to restrain and modify your undoubted intelligence rather than wait 30 or 40 years until you mature.
Its utterly bad there exists in Britain a . If they won’t integrate into mainstream society, send them back as misfits. England = one people, one society with many difference faces and colours.
I hate racial politics.
Curious Cat.
.
Curious Cat, I appreciate that you came late into this discuss. However, Ted did apologise for getting the figures wrong. Feel free to read his comment above. So, I was not being nasty. I was simply accepting his apology and being nice to him by suggesting that he was probably feeling tired, which is why he got the figures wrong.
Your second point is invalid, I am afraid. There is a Bangladeshi community in the UK like there are other communities (i.e. Indian, Black African, Black Caribbean etc). These are all found on various diversity monitoring forms (i.e. when you apply for a job).
=> Clapham
Thanks for your explanation.
I think it very wrong that England has allowed racial communities to exist. I blame loony and usually nasty Labour. Another name for racial communities is Ghettos.
I welcome communities based on geographic districts or areas because they consist of the residents not on nationalities or on culture. I hate all racial communities. They are bad for society integration.
England’s future depends on skin colour and religion are immaterial. England’s future also depends on being IN the EU and taking a leading and influential part in making a better Europe.
Curious Cat.