As I’ve done in previous years, I’ll make this post yours: an open thread. Please add sensible, detailed and accurate comments about what you’ve seen at polling stations, e.g. turnout, atmosphere etc etc. Please don’t libel anyone.
In the meantime, below are the latest returns for postal votes:
So of the 29,581 postal votes issued to households for the mayoral election, 15,956 had been returned as of yesterday. That’s 54%. Of those returned 1,114, or 7%, have been rejected for various reasons, e.g. an incorrect signature, or too many crosses. So 14,806 will count. More will come in today.
I can’t find the full/actual figures for last year’s election so if anyone has them please send them to me. (And if anyone does have knowledge of how people have voted in the samples of ballots opened, please keep that to yourself: it’s an offence to disclose them.)
I’ve only been able to find these percentages from the Electoral Commission
Over to you..
…and here’s the first pic showing a canvassing exclusion zone outside Ben Jonson Primary School polling station. This is what it’s come to..
Trial by Jeory 
All rather quiet at Tredegar Centre Polling Station. The policeman stationed there looked very bored! Everyone working there was friendly. Seen lots of Labour campaigners out and about this morning, including John Biggs himself outside Bow Rd tube station. All very civic, all very civil.
Just cast my vote. There was a strong Police presence in the form of 2 officers at the entrance. And outside the grounds, there was 2 representatives of the mainstream political parties.
It was tough, as I could have gone for the strategic vote. Except the leader in the field best opposed to Rabina Khan have in my opinion not done enough to explain why; when they knew there was problems Lutfur, didn’t do enough to expose him then and later + the smiling picture of him yesterday, with Livingstone, reminded me of another wasted vote I made many years ago for an independent Mayor of London, who today is a “gun for hire” for corrupt politicians…
In the end I selected two candidates who wants to abolish the Mayoral role in Tower Hamlets, because as long as we cannot manage it ourselves, we might as well hire a professional executive. And no, I did not vote UKIP. Although either way, I think my vote might be wasted – at least the people I voted for, will have the knowledge of at least one supporter 🙂
Good Luck to all today – may the best choice for Tower Hamlets win.
I voted at 07.20 there was no one outside and only one policeman inside
I voted at 08.15 only myself and my neighbour plus TH staff and one policeman very civil and nice not to have run the usual gauntlet.
How much scrutiny will these 14K plus postal votes (handed in today) be subjected to? I know signature and DOB must be checked against those held on file by John Williams’ crew. Will there be enough time to do a thorough and comprehensive scrutiny?
I thought the reason they have to come in early is so they can do that check
I thought they weren’t counted until the vote closed at 10pm. I seem to recall that in previous elections several thousand PV were submitted to polling stations just before close of polls. Just curious to know how JW’s team will handle this.
They’re not counted until the Count starts – but they do all the verification checks in advance ie signature and DOB.
How they have voted at this stage is totally irrelevant. Right now the only thing which is relevant is
1) are they eligible to vote and
2) are they who they say they are.
Most councils never ever check ALL the postal votes. Often it is about 20% amid a range of excuses.
BBC web site states The Met Police said it was investigating 16 allegations of electoral malpractice in relation to this election, including harvesting votes and the improper distribution of election literature.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-33088861
Don’t know of any specific election offence of . If interested enough the police will stitch-up anyone.
Curious Cat
(dreading the result)
Today I am going to have to vote with my head rather than my heart. If there is only one person who can stop the Khan/Rahman circus, then he will have to get my vote. My heart gets my second vote though – hope it makes a difference
Me too!
So – if I understand the numbers you’ve given us correctly, that’s
1) a much lower percentage of postal vote packs returned compared to those requested – when compared to other boroughs (ie 54% in Tower Hamlets compared to between 65-73% elsewhere). Maybe people had second thoughts? 😉
2) the percentage of votes rejected at 7% is not untypical when compared to neighbouring boroughs – but is twice that experienced in Lewisham and Watford. (Which suggests that Returning Officers need to have a much better understanding as to the reasons why this happens.)
I’ve checked the General Election results and it appears that the total electorate based on totals and percentages via Wikipedia is 163,887. (103,968 votes were cast in the two parliamentary constituencies)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethnal_Green_and_Bow_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Elections_since_1997
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar_and_Limehouse_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Election_results
So that means the postal vote this time is just short of 9% of the total electorate
If the electorate turns out at General Election Levels (i.e. 63%) then the total number of votes cast would be c.104k – making the postal votes count for around 14% ie not unlike Newham but much lower than usual
However if you compare votes cast and turnout in the 2015 General Election with the 2014 Mayoral election, there’s something very interesting going on.
The number of votes cast in 2014 for the Mayor were 84,234 or 47.58% of the electorate. That would make the electorate 177,036.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directly_elected_mayor_of_Tower_Hamlets#2014
That means between the Mayoral Election in 2014 and the General Election in 2015 the electorate has REDUCED by some 12,149 votes – from 177,036 voters to 164,887 voters.
I’d call that very significant and very interesting!
(Bear in mind this is all based on grossing up votes cast based on percentage turnout figures listed on Wikipedia – which are typically based on published facts)
If the electorate turns out:
* at the 2014 Mayoral Election levels (ie 47.58% and 84,234 votes cast) then the total number of votes cast via post will equate to 17.5%
* at the 2015 General Election electorate levels (ie 164,887 voters) + 2014 Mayoral Election turnout levels (ie 47.58%) that’s 78,453 votes cast and the postal vote would represent 18.8% of the goal vote – which is comparable with Hackney – which is very high when compared to some other places.
However I am left wondering what happened to the electorate numbers between 2014 and 2015. Ted – maybe you can get an answer from the Council?
John Williams said on R4’s Today programme yesterday that they queried households with more than 5 adults. Maybe that process accounts for the reduction?
Well it would certainly be a very sensible starting place for any targeted scrutiny aimed at uncovering electoral irregularities.
What Andy Erlam uncovered re Robins Hood Gardens was proof that you can find quite a lot of things which shouldn’t be happening if you take the trouble to look closely enough!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-33057261
About time he pulled his thumb out of his arse and did his job properly. After last year’s fiasco, im shocked he’s not unemployed.
The polling station fun will start later, as much of the Tower Hamlets electorate aren’t early risers (in my experience). Make of that what you will.
How is Robin Hood Gardens ghost voters possible ?????? What diabolical state is TH’s electoral register in ?
CC.
The interesting point about Robin Hood Gardens is that it would appear this discrepancy was identified by Erlam AFTER the LBTH Purge of the Register re individual voter registration.
So what does that say about the effectiveness of the strategies employed by the Returning Officer re cleaning up the Register for Estates where decanting is occurring?
Surely that should be automatic – IF there were good liaison between the social landlords and the Returning Officer?
I’m tweeting from count
Strict rules on what I can communicate
Labour team perkier than this time last year
Rood Hood Gardens needs a proper police investigation.
All the Ghost Voters I know don’t have valid national insurance numbers or other earthly documents like driving licenses and passports.
Whatever next ?
Curious Cat.
General Election has different number of votes than local elections, because people from EU can vote in local elections and EU elections (and some referendums) but not in General Elections.
According to my calculations (based on LBTH figures on their website) during General Election 2015 there were 16% postal votes cast.
Another explanation for the reduction of voters would be the the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration:
http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/council_and_democracy/elections__voting/electoral_registration.aspx
All entries on the Electoral Register were matched to national databases (DWP records etc) and where they did not match voters have been requested to provide additional evidence of residency.
The voters who failed to get matched (as well as all new voters) had to provide their date of birth and NI number.
This must make it harder to cheat- you cannot register your mates and claim they are lodgers.
It is reassuring 7% dodgy postal votes will not count, however as we have learnt during Lutfur’s trial, vote harvesters collect ballot papers already signed.
I’ve made some rough calculations yesterday, and came up with the figure of approx 2000 dodgy votes (based on 16% of 165k electors and 8% rejects).
Of course not all rejects were dodgy, some people might have spoiled their ballots as a form of protest, or they were just a bit stupid…
Speaking of which I am tempted to put more than 2 crosses myself 🙂
Mmm- who should get my second vote….
We had very little attention from any parties in this neck of woods (Weavers) only Labours did some door knocking. Did not even get Peter’s leaflets through the door in my block!
Our polling station is eerily quiet and dead most of the time.1 police officer, 1 unmarked canvasser and 1 Labour on an off (mostly off). No tape.
No excitement whatsoever- not sure if i am disappointed or relieved.
I have to say I think that tape on the ground is a rather good visual solution to “this far and no further” questions
Given the placement of the railings I can well understand why entry and exit for that school might have been worrying for some people in the past if people were not excluded from that particular area.
No police, nobody at John Scurr Primary School on Cephas Street this morning around 8:25. All very quite not posters on the street either.
The Tramshed (Digby St) was quiet in terms of voters but there were 4 or 5 men hanging around outside and along the street with ‘Vote Rubina Khan’ leaflets.
Any police in sight?
It’s been quite at my polling station, as might be expected in the early hours. A lone uniformed police officer has been strolling around but there’s no tape on the ground. Opposite a group of somebody’s supported, all bengali men, has gathered. There are about 6 to 8 of them. One of them is Mahbub Alam so they must be Rabina’s groupies. Will be casting my votes shortly.
I can’t write what I really think, as it won’t be posted.
I wonder if Manboob has conditioned his lustrous thick beard in anticipation of the plethora of selfies that will no doubt flood Twitter?
THF’s very own Narcissus! Look what happened to him, we can only dream…
I hear that Manboob had offered at least one person a discount in his rip-off tat emporium if she had her picture taken with him and a vote for Luftfur/Rabina/Satan leaflet. Then again, I guess it’s in the THF handbook. Get them votes, by hook or by crook – if you pardon the pun!
They’d better get in quick to claim the discount as Manboob’s shops are going rapidly down the tubes. Just like THF did.
He could always bring out a range of men’s beard grooming products? I can just see the adds – Oil of Alam facial hair grooming gear, for those who always want to be ‘selfie ready’. Available in Wantey Market, Whitechapel, and Bradford. So good, you’ll have to beat your wife to stop her stealing it for herself!
Where is the count taking place? I recall reading it was out of the borough but is the location not being disclosed?
The Excel
http://www.excel-london.co.uk/visiting-excel/
Lots of nice security men! 🙂
Guardian (Dave Hill) says it is being held “outside the borough”
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2015/jun/10/tower-hamlets-the-rise-and-fall-lutfur-rahman
Guess what – the Excel is in Newham! 🙂
Went to cast my own vote at Kobi Nazrul primary on Settles Street around 0840h. An exclusion zone on the ground outside the school gate, and one supporter each from Labour and Rabina Khan hanging about with a polling worker. Police officer inside the gate, next to the entrance to the polling place. Dead quiet – seemed I was the only person who had voted for a while.
So far so good.
Then popped over to Harry Gosling Primary to cast my friend’s proxy. Two officers and an exclusion zone outside, no activists.
However… I was not able to vote. The polling station did not have my friend on the proxy list. I called TH Electoral Services, who claim they have no record of having received his proxy application. This seems very odd – I was there when he filled in the form, and he is a fastidious, legally-minded type who definitely would have sent it on time.
Who’s most likely to have cocked this up: him, Royal Mail, or Tower Hamlets Council?
Maybe suggest to your friend to ring up and complain if he definitely posted it. Then he should ask how to make a formal complaint about the electoral process and votes going missing.
If you’re proxy because he is out of the country you could do the same things for him.
Had a bit of a problem with the proxy vote as well, though in my case it got sorted.
My friend’s name wasn’t on the list of proxy voters, so they had to ring up the returning officer. I’d been sent a proxy poll card with all the relevant info on, and I had that with me, which helped I think (did you receive a proxy card?). They were then instructed to issue me with a ballot, and while they were crossing off my friend’s name, they found it had a ‘p’ next to it.
Not sure what was wrong, but they seemed to think their list of proxy voters wasn’t quite up to date.
Everyone was very friendly and helpful though, and I wasn’t waiting long.
There were no canvassers when I went to vote, a little after 10 at English Street, and a steady trickle of voters were coming and going. The single policeman looked reasonably relaxed and happy.
Columbia Road Primary School – a steady trickle of voters. No police in evidence at the station at the moment. All quite as things should be.
There was one in the reception about two hours ago. You’d have thought they’d have put the exclusion zone around the entrance too.
All quiet on Coborn Street this morning, save one Rabina Khan supporter giving out flyers. I asked him why she was unable to attend the hustings. He said he “hadn’t heard about that”. Not impressed!
I have received a text the same as other people have reported, it’s saved to my phone asking me to vote for Rabina Khan. Have reported to electoral services and also need to report to information comission. I have no connection nor have no previous discussions where my mob number would have been given to this campaign or the previous mayor campaign. I want to be sure data protection laws have not been breeched or violated by LBTH council or staff with access
Our home clearly got discriminated against as we got neither election leaflet, nor text message, nor a visit by Rabina Khan – However, there are still time.
Dear Madsvid. I sympathise with your plight. Im guessing your discrimination is probably due to some kind of ism or phobia.
Have you applied for a grant for a week in the Maldives to soothe your nerves yet? I hear it’s lovely this time of year, and I’d guess if you suffer an ism or phobia you’ll be top of the priority list. I’m quite sure.
Any housing needs too? I hear Rabina has built plenty, no doubt with her callused bare hands. I’m sure she can spare the odd 4 bed flat or two.
I thought Greece was the preferred Tower Hamlets Council, all expenses paid by the Council Tax payers, holiday destination ?
You are both wrong, neither Maldives or Greece is the preferred destination. However, apparently it is possible to make a permanent home in Italy, whilst claiming in Tower Hamlets – one wonders whether people living in Italy gets a postal vote each too…
I bet you could even get the literature translated.
We are very accommodating like that.
You could save time and forward you unsealed completed postal vote to THF HQ ?
Ian – the same thing happened to someone on my street. I think that they have collated them from numbers provided when people have contacted ward councilors about local issues…. bit naughty really. I will check tonight to see if he got another text message.
I voted at the Docklands Museum this morning at 8. No one around except one policeman and a cheeky look at the roll as they were finding my name suggested very few people through the door before me.
Not that I think this election will be won or lost of the Isle of Dogs.
‘on the Isle of Dogs’. Idiot me.
King David Lane, Shadwell, quiet. I had to laugh as a single chair was plonked in the middle of the playground with black and yellow tape around it. Looked like a quarantined area! Large black shiny Mercs with blacked out windows cruising the street and stopping by people on the way to vote. Bit Mafia really.
If Rubina Khan wins I’ll eat my hat!!!
I’ll be physically sick 😦
During the last General Elections there were lots of names in red on the electors list. The page my partner’s name was on had most of the names in red, very few in black. Has anyone got any idea what this meant? I am very curious.
Red is for absent voters – i.e. people with a postal vote.
That explains why my polling station is so quiet!
Very quiet at Ogilvy Hall. One lone policeman (same one as general election voting day), taped off ‘exclusion zone’, and two suited and booted Khan/Rahman acolytes standing way outside the zone giving out leaflets
Was Ahad Miah there in his nazi army uniform, goose stepping up and down in a menacing manner?
Naa.
He was too busy kneeing down and worshipping large posters of his chosen hero.
Springtime for Lutfur in Brixton Jail!
😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😅
At my polling station earlier this afternoon, as I went in there was a male and female couple in front of me who were being firmly told they must go into seperatre booths. The woman repeated the word ‘seperate’ indicating she had some understanding of English.
There were not booths as such, just round tables seperated by several partitions creating an individual space. They stood next to each other sperated by a partion but the woman moved into the man’s space and pointed to the ballot paper seeking confirmation of either which one to put her mark by or whether she had put her mark by the right person.The man nodded, they posted their ballots and left.
Is this acceptable?
No. Of course it is NOT acceptable but both Labour and Tories nationally have ignored the problem. They just want votes however they are made.
Democracy ?
…and THF has encouraged the problem. If she’d marked a different candidate or marked the paper incorrectly it would have been too late to do anything about. Had she tried to change it, the paper would have been spoilt.
She would have been able to ask for a replacement paper even so
Had she tried to change it, the paper would have been spoilt.
At this year’s elections I was Invited, by a political party I do not support, to be one of their counting agents.
The Returning Officer accepted altered votes provided the ‘wrong’ vote was clearly scribbled-out and the replacement vote was clearly marked and placed in an appropriate box.
Curious Cat.
Have you not noticed how many of the ‘independent’ candidates have the actual ballot paper on their leaflets? Obviously to help those who cannot read English cast their vote.
Also, THF’s 3 house logo? Which was surely aimed as an incentive. Tick the box for free house!
Well, Rabina and co have certainly helped many of her country folk onto the housing ladder.
Inshallah!
Tower Hamlets Electoral Services certainly know how to fan the flames of paranoia. Having arrived at my polling station I discovered there were no pens available, just pencils. Sorry little stumps on strings. Now, I’m not that kind of girl to carry my own pen. I consider it a success if I leave my house with matching shoes on both feet. Now I will have a sleepless night worrying I migh have fallen victim of Eraser Voting Fraud! If you are of a paranoid disposition like myself remember to bring a pen!
Turnout in my polling station was v. Low so far, the only hope is that people will vote on their way from work. Only one or two names crossed out on each page. On a positive note there were much fewer names in red (postal voters). Can people at the count please check if my ballot paper has some tell tale eraser crumbs all over it? I’m sure you will recognise which one it is- it was white and folded very neatly in half 🙂
Isn’t it against the law to have only pencils? It bloody well should be!
forgive me , im voting novice, but pencils?!!-is this normal?!! this has been bothering me all night, and since the general election too. am a first time voter in tower hamlets, ( not from apathy, but because i didnt feel strongly enough about the candidates previously to vote).
anyway am a bit shocked to say the least , about using pencils in an already fraudulent borough.
mother who accompanied me was quite shocked, she’s from up north, where all this london centric liberal politics doesnt make sense. i couldnt quite assure her that my pencil vote wouldnt be tampered with, rubbed out etc . we’ll have to see.
On the plus side, when rabina’s pawn saw me approaching the polling station ( Brayford Square)- he took one look at me, couldnt work out whether to give me a last minute leaflet or not- ( im asian but a bit odd looking -well,in this borough anyway, got very short hair and it aint covered up-!) then decided he might try anyway, at which point i had great satisfaction in showing him my ‘talk-to-the -hand’ gestured . it felt good.
Welcome Zeal Jordan,
Welcome to South-East England’s most corrupt borough.
🙂
Short stubby pencils have been the norm at every election I have ever voted at!
The polling station on Brick Lane had a steady stream of people going in…some inside when we arrived and more arriving as we left. I noticed Cllr. Suluk Ahmed (THF) lurking outside wearing a red and white rosette talking on his mobile alongside a [very attractive] police woman and a Labour teller. Inside there were two men from the Election Commission talking to another police woman. They said it had been “very quiet”. I asked if they meant by that there had been a low turn out and they said they meant there had been no problems. They also said they were visiting numerous polling stations during the day. After voting for John Biggs for my first choice (as any rational person with an iota of decency should do) and Peter Golds for my second choice I left.
On the way out there were now THREE tellers from THF handing out leaflets to people going in (?) and the nice police lady was still there and giving a very good impression of being more style than substance.
Incidentally, several Tories whom I know who have never voted Labour before have this time voted for John Biggs. One of them told me “all the perfumes of Araby cannot wash this stain from my hands” after doing so… if there is a low turn out perhaps new tactical voters such as these will be what Biggs needs to win.
Went to vote at Zander Court earlier this evening. As I was walking in to the polling station via the back entrance, a car pulled up which contained Rahman and a young man. The young bloke parked the car and went to the front entrance, met with a large Asian family who were loitering outside and encouraged them in to the polling station. I reported Rahman’s presence to the 2 police officers on duty, went in, voted and left. Rahman’s car had disappeared by the time I got out.
Rahman really doesn’t get it does he? I’m sure he’s still trying to justify all his rotten borough activities and taking on the role of the hard done by victim and that will be his mantra for eternity. Even if he is jailed, which is still a possibility he will become a martyr. This is a lot to do with the education of the people of Tower Hamlets and how democracy should work and Rabina Khan is simply Rahman’s puppet, pretending that she acts independently of him while he shouts instructions into her ear. She clearly sought his endorsement despite him being a convicted fraudster and plastered his face over every piece of election literature she printed.
Marty,
Rahman is not convicted.
He has not been (criminally) charged with any offence.
He has not had a criminal trial.
He has not been criminally convicted.
All that has happened has been a civil case (Election Petition hearing) which he lost.
Please be mindful of the law of Defamation – saying something is a fact when it is not a fact. Its better to always state in your opinion …… (something) …..
Hope this helps.
Curious Cat.
(not a lawyer)
Voted at John Orwell sports centre in Wapping around 8.30pm. Voter ahead of me handed over polling card to staff and gave name but the two didn’t match. Was initially denied vote but then her friend had a chat to her, she went back and then give a different name that matched.
Was subsequently allowed to vote. Her friend tried to accompany her to the booth to ‘help’ her vote but a combination of other people waiting to vote and polling station staff chased him off.
(I attempted to report this to 101, but was told it was a ‘civil matter’ and it was down to polling station staff to determine voter eligibility)
If this is the kind of anecdotal evidence by a small number of people who take a particular interest and who write on this blog, the scale of unreported irregularities must be enormous. Thank you on behalf of those who believe in true democracy for doing your bit, regardless of how TH chooses to conduct itself. With all that has gone on, this remains shocking.
F***ing hell
When are expecting the results?
Who knows? This is Tower Hamlets.
Early hours of Friday 12th June according to LBTH website, so we can ignore that prediction!
That is very optimistic indeed….
Which year? Do you think it will be before the next election in 2020?
Christmas?
Labour were out on the street late (only one team) and saying v low turnout and Rabina has people out all over the Borough. Not looking good….
Are there any reporters at the count – I don’t think Ted is going
I will be going yes. Will tweet from there. Don’t expect anything until 1am at earliest though! Although as turnout has been low it might not take that long to count.
A low turnout clearly makes a Rabina win more likely.
@lovewapping will be at the count. not sure who else, surely BBC London have nothing better to talk about at 2am so should be there??
Voted at Harry Gosling Primary School (Henriques Street) at around 6pm. There was a group of around 10 men with Rabina leaflets standing around 50m away on the corner of Fairclough Street. They didn’t even attempt to talk to me or my friend (I had a good guess at why). There was also a very polite Labour canvasser standing directly outside the school entrance with a couple of police officers.
My hat is safe….. Biggsy has done it
Sure ?????
How are the piles of votes looking ?
Since they’ve only just verified the count – and since the count does not start until all votes are verified there’s no chance of anybody predicting the result at this stage!
@LoveWapping is also providing a live twitter feed re count – he’s cracking more jokes than Ted who will have to up his game! 😉
I’ll stick to a neutral one and a photo from an awfully long way away!
I’ve been reviewing the Twitter Feeds and the level of support expressed and the activity represented on Twitter.
Peter Golds has won the “most people tweeting in support” contest – complete with multiple photos
John Biggs has won the “most heavyweight supporters tweeting in support” plus “most heavyweight politicians in the borough on voting day”
Rabina has won the “most new promises on the day of the vote” contest
Seriously there’s a noticeable lack of support for Rabina on Twitter compared to what I recollect from last time re the ex Mayor.
I know Twitter is not for everybody but it’s as good a finger in the wind as we’ve got at this stage.
While sat here twiddling my thumbs I got out the calculator again.
Now we’ve got the Mayoral Verification of votes cast and the percentage of the total electorate we know the following
Total votes cast = 69,643
Total % of the electorate = 37.73%
Total electorate = c.184,600
This compares to 2014 when 177,036 voters extrapolated from votes cast and % turnout
Hence the electorate has actually increased by 7.5k despite the purge of the Register and the Individual Registration
Number of postal votes = 14,806
% of electorate = 8%
% of votes cast = 21.26% (i.e. way in excess of other boroughs)
The 50% of votes required for a candidate to win on the first ballot is 34,821.
By way of reference the ex Mayor got 36,539 in the first round in 2014 i.e. 43.38% of the total vote – based on a total vote of 84,234 and a 47.58% turnout
On a reduced turnout and with extremely active campaigns by both Labour and Conservatives one would not logically expect Rabina to make it to 50% in first round
But who knows?
Labour just won Stepney by election. Not a joke!
Full result
http://moderngov.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=115&RPID=5902721
Greens came third and got more than UKIP
🙂
It gets even more interesting!! Labour has just won the Stepney seat!
We have a new woman politician in Stepney – Sabina Akhtar won!
This is Sabina Akhtar’s Twitter – I’m sure she’ll be tweeting sometime soon!
https://twitter.com/akhtar_sabina
It makes you wonder what might have happened if today had seen the rerun of all the seats won by THF candidates……….
You can see the complete election results for Stepney on the Tower Hamlets website here
http://moderngov.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=115&RPID=5901516#utm_sguid=146746,3264676c-03d0-507f-5680-b1e10c270ea0
Interesting bunch of people read The Wharf – here’s the result of their Mayoral Election Poll
http://www.wharf.co.uk/news/local-news/poll-tower-hamlets-mayoral-election-9428092
I think John Foster was the chap who said he would definitely get rid of the Mayor……
Interesting tweet by Britain elects which gives the percentage change in the Stepney by-election for the seat vacated by the disgraced Alibor Choudhury
Labourlist is running a liveblog of the election
see http://labourlist.org/2015/06/tower-hamlets-mayor-by-election-liveblog/
Here’s an extract
OK – back to the calculator!
If the Stepney result was replicated at the Mayoral Election then we might expect to see the following
John Biggs (2014: 32.82% + 9.1% swing) 41.92% vote on first round = 29,194 votes (ie 5.6k short of the 50% required)
Rabina Khan (2014: 43.38% + swing -4.9%) 38.48% vote on first round = 26,798 votes (i.e. 8k votes short of the 50%)
Of one thing we can be certain – dyed in the wool Conservatives have voted for John Biggs today as their second preference (and then gone and washed their hands as one tweeter put it) and few, if any, Labour voters are likely to have voted for Khan
So if the trend pans out across the borough and Biggs stacks up second votes then he’s won
Bottom line, it all depends on how representative Stepney is of the borough as a whole.
Last time around the THF vote was similar but slightly lower than the borough as a whole.
Ted’s latest is a nice video tweet of a very empty Excel and John Biggs arriving to much applause
He seems more confident than last time.
I love Ted’s “measure the vote by the size of the smiles” approach to photo tweeting!
Labour List Live Blog is now reflagging Ted tweets
http://labourlist.org/2015/06/tower-hamlets-mayor-by-election-liveblog/
Just after this extract – goodness only knows who’s doing these rough counts! They couldn’t be referring to my extrapolations surely? 😉 😀
The way I look at it is that if Rabina focuses her appeal on one section of the community – and then keeps failing to turn up to hustings for a more diverse community – then she really should not expect the rest of the community to deliver many second votes!
Could this be the election of the empty chair “wot lost it”?
It’s getting interesting…….
First round results due shortly.
I commented earlier on the importance of how representative Stepney was of the borough as a whole
Cllr Rachael Saunders, Leader of Labour Group has provided an answer of sorts
Progress! Can I can now go to bed……? Do we get numbers?
First round. Biggs ahead by about 2k. No-one reached 50%. Going straight to second round.
Yippee – I can go to bed!
When we awake it won’t be too bad – hopefully,
Great result, shame Golds didn’t get in, but just glad we kept THF out.
Following this repeat of THF elevtorial antics, lies and usual shenanigans, I hope the public can finally see lovely sweet Rabina for the vile liar that she is. I also hope that criminal investigations ensue regarding this and previous behaviour. Christmas in prison truly would be the best end to a great year!
Biggs 27256 Khan 25763 Golds 5940 Erlam 1768 Lib Dems bagshawe 2152 Greens foster 2678 Ukip McQueen 1769 Biggs lead about 1500
Biggs ahead by 1493.
Numbers as per Ted – but reordered by size
Labour – Biggs 27,256 – 39.17% of the vote (lead of 1,493 votes)
Ind. – Khan 25,763 – 36.99%
Conservative – Golds 5,940 – 8.52% (same % as 2014)
Greens – Foster 2,678 – 3.84%
Lib Dems – Bagshawe 2,152 – 3.09%
UKIP – McQueen 1,769 – 2.54%
Erlam – 1,768 – 2.54
The rest = 3.31%
Good news but still a disgrace that the vanity candidates took so many votes that John’s first round majority was so slim. Pathetic non entities. I thought that Peter Golds would get more given the work he has done but maybe a lot of Tories gave John their first preference.
The REDUCTION IN VOTES for the candidate who plastered the ex-Mayor all over her election material is 10,776 votes. That’s not counting those who stayed at home and didn’t vote at all.
Put that nearly 10.8k votes down to a combination of
* corrupt votes in 2014
* a very large number of Bangladeshi voters who are dismayed by the level of corruption and refuse to vote for anybody who uses election material with the ex-Mayor’s face on it
* A.N. Others who also disliked the fact the ex-Mayor was proven to be corrupt and are not confident that he might not pull the strings re Puppet Khan.
Make no mistake, the ex-Mayor LOST this election for Rabina Khan.
Rabina will never know how many votes she might have got – on her own account as a truly independent candidate – if she had wholly disassociated herself from the ex-Mayor.
My guess is that while fraudulent votes may have been significant, there are an awful lot of people who would not vote for anybody who looked like they might be the ex-Mayor’s puppet.
She should have stood on her own account and not sought any endorsement from a man whose character is now tainted. I guess she’ll know better next time what being truly “Independent” really means!
….and with that I’m off to bed since I now know has won……
…except Labour List have posted the swing data which is as follows
Labour 39.1% (+6.3)
Rabina Khan 37.0% (-6.4)
Conservative 8.5% (-)
Green 3.8% (-1.7)
Lib Dem 3.1% (+0.8)
UKIP 2.5% (-3.2)
OTH 5.9% (+4.2)
She was never an Independent at all. She is the architypical opportunist. She started of in Respect and was a member of the SWP, moved to Labour when that collapsed and then on to Rahman.
The bigger question is the defeat and humiliation of the far left that in just over ten years from the big Stop the War demo to the twelve Respect councillors in Tower Hamlets and Galloway as the MP to nothing, zilch, zero, nada.
I foresee a mass entry of the far left into Labour with all of the inherent problems that will give whoever becomes leader and on the other side of the spectrum a fractured UKIP seeing activists and voters moving to the Tories. along with four million votes.
Biggs wins! Congratulations to John. The right result in the circumstances.
Rabina now out of a job as Cabinet Member for Housing and if she’s got any decency she’ll resign as councillor.
You’ll be lucky. This woman has no scruples! The only way we’ll see the back of her is if the investigations uncover enough evidence to prosecute.
Don’t hold your breath JK. These people are shameless.
Pity she does not have any. She won’t resign.
Getting rid of the malevolent and egregious G[h]ullam Robanni must be the next priority… pure evil…
The struggle now is to get rid of all of their councillors which at the moment number, I think, eight. The fact that they weren’t named in the election petition was a procedural mistake and there is no reason it cannot be rectified. Let’s now start to push for that.
The door is now wide open for these shameless ex-THF, but still councillors to be named in a petition all on their own. The evidence has already been proven strong enough to get rid of Rahman and his side kick, it would be strong enough to get rid of the other 16 including Ms Khan. Maybe the Labour Party would grow a pair and support such a petition, although I would have hoped that The Met would have done their job properly and started a criminal prosecution on this whole corrupt shower a long time ago.
The problem Marty is that the Met in the shape of Tower Hamlets Division were too terrified of being called racist or Islamophobic to investigate the very obvious corruption that was happening on their doorstep.
The matters are now in the hands of a Det Chief Super on the Homicide and Serious Crimes Unit at The Yard. The political climate has also changed with Rahman gone and finished and a real investigation can now begin.
To have evidence of electoral malpractices and financial corruption and to do nothing is corruption, itself a criminal offence so expect to see some heads rolling in the Met. Or will it be a case of The Flying Squad in the seventies with early retirements on medical grounds, full pensions and off to the villa in Spain?
Robert Mark once said the sign of a good police force was that it arrested more criminals than it employed!
Yes, and the police need to do it. What the f*** do I pay my taxes for? It shouldn’t be down to law abiding citizens to put their livelihoods on the line to do the job that the police appear unwilling or unable to do.
They’d be on it like shit off a shovel if you did anything non-pc!
I’ve wasted enough time and effort on these crooks.
The last few months just have been very stressful for THF, and I think they need/deserve a nice holiday. Preferably at Her Majesty’s pleasure.
Robert Mark once said the sign of a good police force was that it arrested more criminals than it employed!
Excellent comment.
Of course there is a reason those Councillors cannot be named via the normal process – and that’s because the normal process is out of time.
Anybody who thinks that an electoral petition is still possible has not studied the law on this topic. Don’t you think it would have happened right after the Court case if this had been possible?
I think I’m right in saying that probably the only way the former THF Councillors are going to get named is via arrests for being party to a criminal conspiracy as a result of the criminal investigation which is currently being led by a top Detective Superintendent.
=> Couldn’t
Anybody who thinks that an electoral petition is still possible has not studied the law on this topic. Don’t you think it would have happened right after the Court case if this had been possible?
Yes I think it is still possible.
Submit a new Election Petition for last year’s elections and fight to have it accepted. It will probably go to the UK Supreme Court if not the Council of Europe’s Court in Strasbourg.
The simple grounds for a challenge to the time-limited 1960’s law is:-
(1) Free & Fair Elections has no time limit.
(2) Tony Blair’s Human Rights Act 1998 came after the 1960’s law and succeeds all or part of the 1960’s law.
If you really want something, you often have to fight hard for it.
Curious Cat
Yes, I feared that this may well be out of the normal time limit for such a petition, which makes the actions of the Met Police all the more concerning, not to mention the Electoral Commission.
Of course they are now taking a keen interest (or at least are showing that they are interested) and investigating, but it is all too easy after the main event when they showed absolutely no appetite (some may say testicles) to get involved. This is all just soft policing, waiting for the evidence to be presented on a plate by others who have done all the difficult, not to say risky spade work that requires grit and determination. What is that large sum of money listed at the bottom of my council tax bill being spent on? It’s certainly not on investigating cheats and fraudsters undermining the very democracy which allows it to police by the consent of the people.
The Metropolitan Police were given countless opportunities to seriously investigate wide scale election corruption and fraud, given huge amounts of evidence by a large number of individuals and received numerous complaints by a concerned electorate, but sat on their nervous hands for fear of being called islamophobic or racist. That’s not policing and that’s not what my hard earned cash paid to LBTH every month should be spent on.
My council tax is a double whammy really: All this money has been given away to the friends of Lutfur Rahman in grants and whatever other corrupt means he has found, while assets have been sold at huge discounts to his cronies and then I can’t even be confident that the money I’m paying the Met every month is being used to bring this shower of tin pot corrupt politicians to account.
Wind the clock back 12 months. Had 4 brave local resident petitioners not had the appetite and determination to put Rahman on trial and force him from office, does anyone seriously think that the Met would be investigating anything now? It conveniently persisted with the line “no credible evidence of criminality” as its mantra in relation to Rahman and THF. Well, if you don’t look you don’t find. If 4 ordinary residents can do it and risk everything, then the Met should be doing it and without prompting. Absolute and complete abdication of responsibility.
Incidentally, I don’t exactly think the Electoral Commission has covered themselves in glory either. I received a generic letter back from them in April, 11 months after I first wrote to them regarding election fraud and their casualness was breathtaking.
Excellent summary Marty.
The Met Police causes crimes (e.g. Tottenham riot by failing to talk to the public who pay their wages and then act like real policemen) and promotes and encourages crime (e.g. Tower Hamlets by wilfully neglecting their statutory duty – probably because some of them view the public, who pay their salaries, with contempt and disinterest).
Hogan-Howe obviously needs to do some unpaid overtime and start kicking the arses of his borough commanders and all the Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners. The force is overweight (or top-heavy) with poor or bad performers. No organisation can give a good service when the decision makers and their supervisors (in police-speak) repeatedly ignore public disquiet about a long series of repeated allegations centred on the infamous London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Each council area police unit compiles continuous intelligence files on members of the public gathered from multiple sources including gossip and local newspapers. Tower Hamlets police unit had in their intelligence files copious information about the public claims made about Lutfur Raham. On top of that the police had complaints from the public. Yet the police deliberately ignored all the in their files and could not be bothered to turn that intelligence into evidence.
The obvious reason why Hogan-Howe’s cowboys and girls rode away from the multiple scenes of crime in Tower Hamlets is central government’s insistence the police and the councils work harmonious together in multiple Partnership working. An average local authority police unit is probably on 5 or 6 and sometimes more Partnership boards, strategies, trusts etc. The same unit then has frequent weekly and monthly meetings with low-down council staff and low-down police (PCs and an occasional sergeant). The incestuous relationship between councils and police has inevitably made the police regard councils as part of the Law & Enforcement establishment when councils are not and never have been.
The blame for this lies with the Westminster Wallies also known as MPs. They made bad laws and then failed to properly scrutinised their application.
The Partnership immunity for corrupt councils and councils’ top officials has spread nationwide.
Whatever happens with the lethargic police in Tower Hamlets, the police’s respect and devotion to councils, especially to councils’ top people, will continue.
Curious Cat.
I want a better country, a better society and to stay in the EU.
Under the current English laws Election Petitions must be filed in Court within a few weeks of the election. You are therefore out-of-time although a challenge to that law, citing Human Right to free and fair elections, could succeed. Labour won’t do it because Labour are crap.
Curious Cat
The best moment was seeing the look on Gulam Robbani’s face during Biggs’ acceptance speech
Priceless
I would have loved to see it- pity you didn’t take a picture. Maybe you could attempt a quick sketch ?
He will be kicked out as chair of tower hamlets homes board and a close scrutiny of THH will follow hopefully. Mark my words- TH council housing will be the next big story.
Oh, but THH had absolutely no idea at all that it was distributing election leaflets for Lutfur Rahman mark 2! Also, apparently, there has been no corruption in housing in TH and everything has been fair and transparent, according to THH.
Working Mum ?
You must be an imposter. Everyone knows there is only one working mum in Tower Hamlets and she lost the election 🙂
CC.
Work it girl!
Well done John. Now take Tower Hamlets forward! Let the borough be known for its inclusiveness, innovation and vibrancy in modern England/Britain.
Dear John Biggs,
I’m Guessing that you or at least your supporters read this.
Congratations on your victory, and hopefully returning our amazing borough’s faith in democracy.
I, like many of Peter’s supporters, gave you my second preference vote. Indeed, I know of some Tories were so keen to keep THF/Lutfur/Rabina out, they gave you their first vote, and Peter their second. Also, you and Peter have worked well together for the greater good, combining your efforts against the crap we’ve endured for 5 years.
In light of this, why don’t you use Peter’s skills when you form your new Cabinet? Member working against corruption and police liaison? Member for scrutiny and transparency? The list of ways to use Peter’s wealth of experience in endless, and it may restore some faith in local politics…just a thought.
Sorry, I meant to add the huge gratitude of debt he (and Labour) owe the petitioners who got Loony Lutfur booted out in the first place. Especially when Labour are to blame for this fiasco in the first place.
I do hope John Biggs will reflect on the fact that he is only Mayor today because of all the voters who support the other parties who gave him their first or second votes.
He is NOT Mayor based on a natural Labour vote.
On that basis can I recommend that a suitable gesture might be to give Cllr Peter Golds the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny at the earliest opportunity.
Josh Peck is a good and talented Councillor – but he is no longer in opposition and will undoubtedly shortly be picking up a Cabinet role from you in the very near future.
I am also sure Mayor Biggs will recognise the justice of giving this role to the Councillor who held the previous Administration to account more than any of the current Councillors.
A good idea but unlikely to happen, more chance that Biggs will try to bring Rubina Khan and the rest of Rahman’s cronies but to Labour.
That must absolutely not happen. If he does that Labour will lose a vast amount of support from the COALITION of people which enabled them to be elected.
I sincerely hope not.
John would lose all credibility if Labour extended an olive branch to this bunch of shysters and tossers.
Look what happened to Rabina Khan when she climbed into bed with Lutfur to garner votes and curry favour. Though to be honest, anyone with even a modicum of intelligence or common sense would’ve seen through her following her recent antics, even if she had charmed/bribed/promised the earth to in the past.
I’m afraid, it’s only the loons and complete morons that would back that lame horse. Oh, and those on the make.
To coin a phrase, Lutfur has helped her campaign to no end!
Even if Biggs offers anyhting to Rabina or her corrupt cronies, there’s no certainty she or they would accept. More likely they will stay in opposition. Labour is now strong in LBTH and in the majority – it doesn’t need to be tainted by the toxic and failed ex-THF.
Full set of results http://moderngov.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=116&RPID=5965334
Second round
John Biggs (Lab) 32,754 (89.85%)
Rabina Khan (Ind) 26,763 (10.15%)
First round
John Biggs (Lab) 27,255 (40.00%, +14.98%)
Rabina Khan (Ind) 25,763 (37.81%)
Peter Golds (C) 5,940 (8.72%, -3.17%)
John Foster (Green) 2,678 (3.93%, -1.18%)
Elaine Bagshaw (LD) 2,152 (3.16%, -3.07%)
Andy Erlam (Red Flag) 1,768 (2.59%)
Nicholas McQueen (UKIP) 1,669 (2.45%)
Hafiz Abdul Kadir (Ind) 316 (0.46%)
Vanessa Hudson (AWP) 305 (0.45%)
Md Motiur Rahman Nanu (Ind) 292 (0.43%, -51.33%)
Everybody except for the first three candidates lost their deposit because they polled less than 5% of the vote.
I hear rabina khan is preparing an election petition against last night’s results. Roll on mayoral election 2016.
If that happens: I will help crowd-fund the case for her to be removed from office + vote Labour in the next election – I don’t know which one of those two would be the worst 😉 (just joking – obviously)
The crowdfunding thing is well worth us discussing here. Let’s all talk about this over the weekend.
And we’ve got the lying, corrupt, ex-mayor’s appeal to look forward to as well, but that looks less likely now as Rabina can’t get her hands on the money now.
Hip Hip Hoooray … The Labour gravey train is back…!!!!
As opposed to the THF gravy train of corruptly elected councillors.
I hope John BIggs will keep his promise to scarp that parasitic organisation Tower Hamlets Homes.
Massive congratulations to Mayor Biggs and his team of helpers who worked very hard to get the result they did.
My analysis of the results is:
a) Tories voted for John Biggs using either their first or their second preference in order to ensure Khan did not win. Peter Golds even encouraged his supporters to do this, which is a first.
b) Collapsed Lib Dem support all went to Labour
c) Green Party voters mainly gave Biggs their second preference
d) Some Bengalis who supported THF last time could not bring themselves to support the “hysterical weeping woman” Rabina Khan; this is mostly the traditional-patriarchal vote
e) Other younger Bengalis who supported THF last time have decided not to participate in elections any more; essentially these are the crypto-fascist hardcore of the IFE.
f) The fine weather assisted Biggs in the turn out of his soft support
b – Lib Dems were the only party to increase both their share of the vote and the actual number of voters from last yr.
I think last year may have been the nadir… and the result is still down from the 2,800 they got in 2010 and the 32,314 they got in the local elections in 2006.
Scum bags, the Lib Dems. They could have lost the whole thing.
I’d say that’s a pretty good analysis.
I hate to think what would have happened if it had rained! 😉
Video of speeches after the count
OLI RAHMAN
SHADHED ALI
GULAM RABBANI
MAIUM MIAH
MURZILINE PARCHMENT
DAVID GALPIN
MEIC SULLIVAN GOULD
JUBAIR AHMED
AMAN DALVI
POLA UDDIN
KABIR AHMED
GARY REDDIN
STUART MADEWELL
KEN LIVINGSTONE
GEORGE GALLOWAY
JOHN REES
DAVE HILL
LUTFUR RAHMAN, CAN YOU HEAR ME?
LUTFUR RAHMAN, CAN YOU HEAR ME?
YOUR GIRL TOOK ONE HELLUVA BEATING!
YOUR GIRL TOOK ONE HELLUVA BEATING!
Yeh, go for it! Innit?
You missed Alibor Choudary!
THF’s number 2 with a past….and little future…..
Rabina’s whining in this article in the Standard
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/tower-hamlets-election-labours-john-biggs-voted-mayor-after-lutfur-rahman-stripped-of-power-10314929.html
She said: ‘…the Labour man only won because he had the “political apparatus, whereby I’m a woman, an independent candidate.”
What does being a woman have to do with it? Perhaps if she hadn’t been corrpulty elected and aligned herself with the lying corrupt Rahman, her position might have been improved irrespective of her sex.
Waiting for the accusations of racist, Islamaphobic and now sexist to surface,
I think this is what Mawrey referred to as “victim” politics. It’s pitiful.
She’s “Independent” because she didn’t take the trouble to make sure that she was a member of a proper political party which observed all the rules about what sort of documents are required and what sort of returns it should make.
If she can’t even get that detail right she doesn’t deserve to be Mayor!
Incidentally her fellow British Bangladeshi women politicians who are now all MPs got that status by being part of a proper political party.
By way of contrast Rabina Khan has jumped ship on more political parties than many people have voted in elections
She’s Independent because she associated herself with a man who has been found to be corrupt at elections and in office. She has been judged by the company she keeps.
She didn’t choose to dissociate herself from this and consequently has now paid the price. The ex Mayor is the political equivalent of “box office poison” and it rubs off on those who associate with him.
Incidentally she’s also whining on Twitter – and people aren’t holding back on their responses – they’re telling her “like it is”
This one takes some beating https://twitter.com/rabinakhan/status/609302192470773761
=> Couldn’t
Rabina could have formed and registered her own political party. Seems she didn’t know.
CC.
Vile, vile woman. I just hate these professional victims. It’s always someone else’s fault.
That Twitter link would be hilarious had much of it not been so accurate.
Rabina, take a long hard look in the mirror, and see what you’ve become. A pitiful laughing stock, an expenses cheat, a lyer, a racist, a puppet, completely delusional. I think the icing on my cake was dragging your poor daughter’s health into this. An action I hope neither of you live to regret…..
Were you born so rotten, or has something twisted and gnarled you into such a person?
Likewise, we need to take a look at ourselves, we allowed this to happen. After all, this is supposed to be a sophisticated, developed country, with processes, procedures and agencies to prevent this kind of rot setting in.
We need to realise that criminality, hatred, deciept, division and corruption need to be tackled, without fear of being called racist or anti religion. All of the above transcend skin colour, sexuality and religious persuasion.
Let’s grow some cajones and never be in this position again.
If it were all true, she’d be top of her own housing list.
D’oh! She can’t fix it anymore.
I wonder if she’s packed her bags, and jumped on the number 15 back home to Whitechapel? She won’t be able to afford the taxi, well not at the rate she usually gets signed off. It’d probably cost a month’s council wages.
At least this working mum is now free for gainful employment. Though she can be a little unreliable, and dishonest. And reall does prefer her on kind. Liars, cheats and hypocrites that is!
Maybe she should take up a hobby?
Maybe she should take up a hobby?
Politics ?
Practise makes perfect!
I was thinking kickboxing.
If you’d like a cherry on your election cake, note that Rahman’s “Mayor of Tower Hamlets” website is no more. Maybe he’s finally got the message.
Maybe it is because I included it as part of my complaint to the Police, THelectiona and Commissioners about the use of a specific image of Lutfur on Rabina’s first election leaflet…
I salute you as I do others for their proactivity, passivity is not an option when it comes to Rahman and his cronies.
It would be invidious not to extend a huge, enormous VOTE OF THANKS to the four petitioners Andy Erlam, Angela Moffat, Azmal Husain and Debbie Simmone – and their very impressive legal Counsel Mr Francis Hoar https://twitter.com/Francis_Hoar – whose joint actions succeeded where others feared to tread
Thank you for allowing ALL of usl to have another go at voting yesterday for a fair and just result compared to to the shenanigans of the past.
sorry for the typo – should read “ALL of us”
Wouldn’t you know – Dave Hill still wants to have another two pennorth!
Labour’s Tower Hamlets win is deserved, but John Biggs cannot be complacent by Dave Hill
Dave really needs to learn to stop putting ‘corrupt and illegal’ practices in quotes as if he’s holding the assertion at arm’s length because in his opinion it stinks. Once it’s the result in a court case it’s a fact not an opinion until and unless it is successfully challenged in court. For now it’s FACT!
The way to write the sentence is
The contest to become executive mayor of Tower Hamlets, the local authority of London’s East End, was a re-run of a ballot held last May and declared void two months ago after an election court found that the victory ascribed to Labour’s bitter rival, the rather famous Lutfur Rahman, had been secured with the help of corrupt and illegal practices.
I removed the quotes around the last three words!
He’s also got to learn that popularity can be bought – and was – by the ex-Mayor.