As is traditional on this site, today it’s over to you.
Please report back any observations from polling stations, eg turnout, incidents, atmosphere, police presence etc.
Good luck to all, and thank you!
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Trial by Jeory 
Old habits die slowly. Government’s attempts to clean-up the sleaze are unlikely to be completely effective.
BUT one has to start somewhere even if its many years late.
Curious Cat.
Looking at the bigger picture I think I can safely say that while the old system of patronage and vote delivery based on villages and powerful individuals may not be finished it is certainly on the way out. It’s now just over ten years since Respect became a political force in Tower Hamlets and for the loony left the revolution was just around the corner.
I tried to have a bet with Paddy Power on how long Respect would last but couldn’t get odds, I was OK on Ken Livingstone getting his arse kicked by Boris and mad a nice few hundred quid, as it was quite clear from when the polls closed that the white SWP Respect candidates had all failed and that it was an entirely Bangladeshi operation.
The history of the various splits in Respect and in the subsequent groups that it spawned are well known to the readers of this blog and there is no need to cover that ground again. What is clear from the results yesterday is that traditional political loyalties of a UK kind are now taking precedence over the old graam and desh ones of the past and a younger generation of Bangladeshis is looking at the country they live in from a more usual British political view point. This is good as the politics of Respect, Rahman and their successors were corrupt and divisive no matter what the rhetoric that accompanied them.
The last twelve years or so in Tower Hamlets have been ones of a corrosive and poisonous nature that have held back any real attempts to create a politics based on crossing ethnic and racial boundaries. That will take time to sort out but at least an attempt is now being made. The other more welcome effect has been the eclipse of the Socialist Worker Party which split irrevocably over Respect and was then more or less wiped out by the Martin Smith rape scandal.
You reap what you sow and the left, or at least the opportunistic loony tunes section of it, have come out of Tower Hamlets with whatever credibility they had in tatters. It’s only just over two years since we saw a packed Water Lilly Centre in Whitechapel host a meeting to condemn the removal of Lutfur Rahman by an electoral court. The platform contained such luminaries as Ken Livingstone, Christine Shawcroft, the SWP all spiting venom about the attack on democracy by a judge. The greatest statement was from Glyn Robbins of just about every group on the loony left for the last thirty years who was ” Going to take the judgement and ram it down their throats”. It wasn’t quite clear whose throats they were but it hasn’t happened.
When the dust settles it will be business as usual and there will be alliances and factions but that’s life, let’s hope that the politics of the last ten years or so are behind us and rejoice in that fact that the score at full time was Decency 1 Loony Left 0. Oh, and Peter Golds was re-elected which of course is a good thing.
That’s a positive message as TH evolves into a modern and, probably, more “normal” borough with all the typical problems of council failures, indifferent (if not also lazy) politicians and the failing ALMO.
There is one, of many, message I would like all TH folk to understand and it is:-
Community cohesion comes from effective integration.
TH needs a new beginning and a different type of local politician, who cares more about the community than their political party or their self.
CC.
What a pity we don’t have a strong local paper to hold this council to account.
The events in TH over the years would have been manna from heaven to any local rag or editor. Sadly the Advertiser gave up the ghost years ago, Now a embarrassment, easily the worse journal in London, if not the country.
Biggs was given free rein to spout his “difficult decisions, Tory cuts” sound bits almost weekly and so on.
Yes we live in a different era to our we access our news, but either ELA ups its game or call it a day and just concentrate on its other titles, as it has patently doing. Local papers still have a place in the right hands and can succeed. Take the North London titles, Camden Journal and so on. Yes freebies, but they put the Advertiser to shame. Take the council to task at every opportunity, break scoops and sometimes four or five pages of residents letters, venting their spleen .Yet in TH. nothing, all very sad.
In pointing at Respect, Lutfer et al as corrupt, I hope you’re not implying that the Labour party wasn’t (and probably still is) thoroughly corrupt. After all, where did those comrades learn their tricks?
Identity checks are not being trialled in Tower Hamlets.
There are stricter rules on postal votes though
More to come on this issue after the election
Yikes. Corrected — been away too long..
We were going to be part of the photo ID trial but Will Tuckley pulled us out of it last year
Tuckley has a habit of not wanting to be too closely scrutinised.
Any sensible Chief Executive in a borough with the track record and reputation of Tower Hamlets would welcome ID checks.
Who on earth wants ID card voting, even when central government offered to fund FREE identity cards via the local authority ?
Some of us already have, with name and photograph:-
* UK Press Card (accepted by the police)
* EU driving licence
* Passport
* Government funded (from 09:30) bus pass
* police ID card
* military ID card
* airport security card (pass)
* civil service ID card
* local authority ID card
et cetera
so which poor person, when offered a FREE identity card, all costs paid by the government, really wants to turn it down ?
ANSWER
Politicians afraid to loose ghost votes and the votes of impersonators. Never mind the silly European (CoE & EU) concept of Free and Fair Elections. That’s why some in the country wish to leave the EU where Free & Fair Elections are guaranteed to all 26 countries except Poland and the UK (blame Gordon Brown & Ed Milliband)
Postal voting is still a source of false voting and don’t forget the former mayor was trained in the art of dirty tricks by the Labour Party and/or its paid-up members.
Identity Cards are the best solution.
Curious Cat.
If you believe the loony left and people like the now sacked from the Labour Party Marc Wadsworth then the whole ID thing is a devious plot to disenfranchise the poor and immigrants who simply have to choose between eating and voting. Put like that is sounds as ridiculous as it actually is.
Impressively Labour knowledgeable Dave Roberts is correct.
I heard the same crap at a non-London Labour council. Voter ID prevents the poor voting; its racially discriminating, its unfair, its not democratic, its an abuse of Human Rights ……………
Having Voter ID, and Voter ID should be shown for ALL POSTAL VOTING APPLICATIONS, certainly does discriminate against the crooks, cheats and corrupt. It is very unfair to those who want to cheat at elections ‘cos it means ONE vote for ONE genuine, living, voter.
Postal Vote applicants should produce ID when they first request a postal vote. If they can’t visit the council offices, because they are frail or immobile etc., then the council should visit the applicant at their home address to see their ID.
Curious Cat.
Poland has free and fair elections.
Polska, the western part formerly part of Germany because the Russians stole the eastern part of Poland (a country once run by Hungarian/Austria), is certainly NOT a good example of anything when the national government’s political party wants to select court judges on their political whim !
Bit like Donald Trump packing the USA Supreme Court with his choice of politically inclined Judges.
Poland is like the UK – both countries citizens denied the 46? Fundamental Rights (including the Right to Good Administration) by their political leaders. In the UK that was Labour. Meanwhile the other 26 countries in the EU have obvious advantages we lack.
The UK does NOT have free and fair elections because the system is wrong, unfair and often unfit for purpose. The blame has to go on the national political parties who ignore the UK’s electoral imperfections for their own actual, or anticipated, political advantages..
2018 and the UK has still not effectively tackled the voting frauds – obviously no big rush to introduce Free & Fair Elections in the UK. Both Tories and Labour avoid discussing this subject – why their embarrassment ?
Curious Cat.
P.S. The Netherlands used to be owned by Spain – it was Spain that, indirectly via Holland (the country and not the two provinces of North & South Holland) gave the “ORANGE” to the Orange Order in Northern Ireland – wonder how many of those British Paddies speak Spanish or even Dutch :-0
Have a splendidly happy and nice bank holiday everyone. I’m going topless in the back garden.
See a voter looking lost – he had gone to where he normally votes at Tiller road leisure centre, the young lady inside (employed on a Council contract) knew nothing about polling station changes. They work out just as I arrive that he needs to go to the next street over Mellish street to vote in the temporary portacabins installed in the carpark of the temporary portacabin (long story).
His normal polling station had been moved but nothing in the public domain from LBTH about the change except what was on the poll card
No signage (at the time) of where the polling station had moved to. Expecting this I installed my own signs and maps indicating where to go including on the turning from Millharbor where most voters came from.
Same issue at London Docklands Museum. Moved to the Marriott hotel on West India Quay but no sign and nobody had told the museum staff where to send lost voters. Again expecting this I install my own signs directing voters to the hotel.
Council staff said they would not move signs onto quayside to make it clearer where new poll station was (private property)
I complain and staff at Mellish Street move signs and add there own sign to Tiller road leisure centre so that is now resolved but I did see more voters go to the wrong location
But no change at London Docklands Museum / Marriott hotel last time I checked
There had been no communication nor consultation about these changes.
Cllr Wood, have you called the Returning Officer? Apologies if I am teaching my Grandmother to suck eggs but I have found they respond pretty quickly… I had to complain to my local officer when I could see how other people were voting as I queued to pick up my ballot slip!
And someone is being PAID public money for this diabolical mess ?
Clearly London’s Number 1 dodgy borough is determined to stay at the top of the table for dodgy voting practises.
Seems once Labour has enough postal votes, it wants to prevent possible non-Labour votes being made at polling stations. All normal dirty-tricks, once again.
What can you, Andrew, do formerly and effectively, about this ?
CC.
Whoops
FORMALLY
Well done Andrew but it’s actually the job of these jobsworths.
Regardless of the literal abolishment of crucual provision such as youthclubs,’nurseries, older peoples laundry service, luncheon clubs and the now literally non-existentent BME voluntary organisations, Biggs has already bagged today’s election. Sadly not because of his dismal track record since being in power, but due to the split created by Rabina and Ohid.
Therefore this election is not about whom shall become Mayor? Biggs has bagged it already. It is about who gets the most votes between Ohid vs Rabina. It is about the number of votes they each attract. It is about the margin of votes between them. Did former mayor Lutfur Rahman attract the near 27,000 votes Rabina keeps gloating about? We shall find out in the early hours after the polls close.
The other interesting feature shall be how many non Labour party candidates retain or get elected as councillors against the popularity of Corbyn – although Biggs, Rushanara Ali and Jim Fitzpatrick clearly hate Corbyn.
Best of luck to all candidates.
Biggs doesn’t have it in the bag.
Wiped the floor with both PATH & THING – Ohid didn’t even make the second round
I went to two polling stations today. Firstly my local one to vote. Solitary bobby outside engrossed on his phone, probably the social media. One Aspire supporter handing out leaflets. This same scenario occurred later on at another station I escorted some one to. Early morning, so quiet voter wise.
In side business as usual. These occasions are of course a extra bonus for council staff who do f**k all normally. So this is “a nice little earner” for them. Grossly overstaffed throughout the day, reaching even more absurd levels of staffing when it comes to the count. So you underworked staff, enjoy you summer holidays on the poor electorate.
Word is Biggs is now sh**ing it. We will have to see .I know many people are aghast at his slogan for a more safe cleaner THs when under his tenure the streets are dirtier and anti social behaviour is totally out of control. Plus his stance on Tower Hamlets Homes still rankles with many voters across the borough. Hence Raina Khan and that little chap from Aspire implying they would abolish that ALMO.Plus anyone who promises to freeze council tax could do rather well……
Biggs is right to be worried.He pledged to scrap THH then disagreed with himself and let residents down by extending its contract. Twice. At hustings meetings, Rabina has never pledged to scrap THH but to give residents a referendum on its future.Other candidates have been vague about what they would do, largely because they don’t understand the misery the un-elected, expensive, unwanted and un-democratic has caused residents. Meanwhile THH is so desperate to have its contract extended beyond 2020, when Biggs says he expects it to go back “in-house”, it’s taken to publishing some misleading articles..
And the common theme is ……………….. LABOUR
They do the same in other local authorities.
Will anyone ever clean-up TH and abolish Tony Blair’s ALMOs ?
The common theme is bad management of the Council.
JK,
and the common theme of that common theme is, Labour controlled local authorities dominate whenever dodgy voting practises occur – and if not Labour paid-up members (subscriptions paid with their own or with someone else’s money) then l;abour-trained people in other parties.
CC.
Which was enabled by the Tories abolishing the National Audit Office.
Both lots are responsible for the mess the country is in.
They have no shame as they crawl the streets desperate for our votes.
Lies. distortions and fake promises abound – then once in, we all suffer again, and again, until the next election.
Once again at my local polling station, there was an incident of a man and woman entering the booth together. This time, a member of staff stepped in to separate them but the man still kept trying to get back in the booth with the woman. He kept saying “she’s my wife” and the staff member explained it made no difference, only one person at a time was allowed in the booth and told the man to go outside. He started shouting and eventually a PCO came out of the kitchen to see what was going on. She had a word with the man who calmed down. By this time the woman had finished and they both left.
It really pisses me off that after everything people still don’t know the rules about how to vote or can’t read signs explaining what to do.
Voter farud spreading to other places. https://twitter.com/GregHands/status/989103754850062336
Greg Hands is obviously snoring on the job. That is typical Labour and has been happening at local authority elections for at least the last 10 years. Labour call it “democracy”.- I call it “fraud” especially as the allegedly requested postal votes never arrive at voter’s homes and the council won’t let the voters vote at polling stations because the voters “have a postal vote”.
Curious Cat.
The thing is that Greg Hands is guilty like all politicans thinking that they have a certain number of safe areas where they will win. With the surge of Labour which I have some doubts about he and others in the Conservatives are now taking stealing votes seriously.
I hope that there is some real action.
I was told by a Corbyn supporter someone part of the metropolitan it does not matter it is only a Tower Hamlets thing.
I sent him the link and he is saying it is no big deal.
All is good in Wapping at St Pauls on the Highway. I was the only voter in there.
Decided to give Lib Dem my vote as they’ve been actively working behind the scenes for the last two years, where the others turned up three months ago. So Lib Dem has earned a seat.
Will they get the Mayor, highly unlikely. But I did give Rabina my second preference. Nothing wrong with diversity in more ways than one.
Now, I did not vote for Labour of Biggs as they, in my opinion, have not been a good example of governance and transparency for local politics.
Here are two opinionated twitter threads of mine on Biggs and local Labour that might be worth following (there are pictures too):
And, the most disingenuous political campaign tweet of the lot:
Enjoy
Biggs has been hanging around Tower Hamlets like a bad smell for too long .He criticises the odious Rahman and his methods as if he is some newcomer to borough, riding his white steed to clean up this shithole. When in reality it was him and all the members of past Labour town halls i.e Peck Jones and others with their ineptitude and obsession of raising rates, then the council tax that paved the way for Rahman’s rise.
Biggs does not care a fig about the genuine lowly paid of Tower Hamlets and if re elected will raise tax and his salary at every opportunity. At least you can say about Rahman he did not impose any increases.
Biggs just wanted to be Mayor out of vanity. He’s been a disaster. He said he would be more open and transparent. He hasn’t. He claimed in his election leaflet to have investigated every allegation of criminality and corruption.He hasn’t. He’s hiked up council tax, made it harder for residents to recycle, given his cronies inflation-busting pay rises and has done nothing for the working people of the borough except make them poorer.
There’s a number of things you can say about Rahman
* No longer a solicitor because he was struck off
* Barred from standing for election due to what he did in the last election but one (it’s a long list)
* Lied to the Court about his assets
* Bankrupt
* Debtor – he hasn’t paid his fines
* Gave LBTH a really bad name
* Still under investigation by the police as I understand it – and the investigation keeps opening up new lines of enquiry
anything else…?
Bottom line he has COST the tax payer a lot of money
Will Tuckley who I have had dealings with said that he will decide which FOI’s to anser as returning officer.
Tuckley is overpaid for a job which he can’t do. He has had many failings.
Abdul Hal wrote …..
How many similar others are there in the council ?
Spring is a bit late this year, but will there be any spring-cleaning in TH ?
I’m afraid that are many, many more waiting to board the public gravy train into Tower Hamlets. All these council CEOs have only ever worked in the cosy public sector, basically unemployable in the private sector. Feet under the desk till a lucrative early retirement curtsey of us mug council tax payers. Tower Hamlets stands proud to have employed so many Martin Smith, Kieran Collins a gloried teacher. There is always a non job awaiting. As for THHs Susmita Sen the biggest piss taker of the lot.£130k per year and has not got a clue. Yet Biggs will not hear any criticism. All very strange when you read His and Kirkpatrick’s views on THH before the previous election. It should be the function of CEO to modernise out moded council practices, cull the overstaffing which is rife across this council, as in all other places.
Lot’s of them. Including the divisional director for communications who told me he would write back to me months later he hasn’t. The new monitoring officer who I am thinking complaining to the SRA about does not reply to valid complaints and let’s the useless head of complaints do internal reviews.
There are many overpaid Council workers that can’t do the job we pay them for. There are nearly 30 staff earning over £100k while Biggs just blames central government for having to make cuts. He could look closer to home.
And to repeat previous posts..Can find thousands to kiss the backside of the Labour patronage of the Rich Mix (a local fleapit with delusions of grandeur).
Our East End is costing even more than the old East End Life. Journalists being paid way over the NUJ normal rates. A full advertising staff just sitting around waiting for some mini cab office to take out a ad. All to produce four issues of a crap mag.
My polling station has also moved (from Gateway Housing opposite Mile End tube to the church in Lichfield Road). The old location opposite the tube was much more convenient to use on your way to/from the tube.
When I pointed it out to the council staff they said they would feed it back for next time (a bit late by then!). I took it on myself to go to back to the old station and persuade Gateway to put up a notice with directions to the new polling station.
I expect turnout to be low with all these polling station changes. I guess making it hard work to vote is one way of getting dodgy votes down.
Ding, ding, hold-on-tight, the man on the 339 wrote:-
Perhaps, having got enough postal votes, some want to make it difficult for ordinary people to vote in case their collective votes overturn the pile of dodgy votes.
It’s not hard to vote in Tower Hamlets. It can be done with no ID and no voting card.
………….. And the voter doesn’t always have to exist, either !
I understand that the Olga polling station was on the 1st floor, with no adequate information as to where to find the lift, and the main gates were locked. No Bunty, that won’t stop the dodgy votes, they’ll find a way anyway, but the old and infirm, parents with prams… they’re the people you’re making it difficult for.
A clapped out old van covered in Expire (not a typo) posters was parked outside Marion Richardson School in Senrab Street.
I couldn’t find my polling card, but wasn’t asked for any ID. After previous farcical elections, they are still not safe guarding the vote in Tower Hamlets!
If they safeguarded the vote, the crooks will probably lose the election.
Good luck John
I was spoken to by two very nice young Bengali ladies who wanted me to vote for a female relative. Made a very pleasant change….
Maybe change is coming to LBTH
PS No ID asked for and I didn’t have my poll card with me as I’d forgotten today was the election.
That might be because I’ve not had one single election leaflet through the door apart from the mayoral one – which was ages ago.
You’ve never needed either to vote in the UK, and I’d is only being trialled in four places today, not in Tower Hamlets. Regardless it wasn’t in person voting that was/is the issue in tower hamlets.
P.P.S. What was interesting was that the lists of the electorate had all the postal votes marked up in red. If you don’t ask you don’t find these things out…. 😉
I found this on Twitter. https://www.totaljobs.com/JobSearch/EmailLink.aspx?JobId=81287859&GUID=5a6d7364-9d05-ef26-3b4a-9767b90226fc&RecommendedJobOCA=1&DCMP=R_EM_IJM_TJ_030518
Sorry wrong link.
Hope you are successful 🙂
In front of a police officer today the election agent told the person in front of me to place an X in the top box for Ahmed. Is this illegal?
email vote@towerhamlets.gov.uk and let them know.
I thought election agents were not allowed in polling stations – and how did Bob know it was an election agent?
Bethnal Green polling station , near closing time. Official talking to someone on her phone with elderly bengali lady next to her – something about ‘the gentleman inadvertently filled in her form for her with the wrong candidate …’ assume it had been a postal vote and official was getting authorisation from higher up ? Lady was then assisted to vote , with the official again on phone , apparently double checking who the lady wanted to vote for.
I suppose it was legit but seemed odd to me
That NEEDS a police investigation. It stinks. But the police don’t care or are overloaded or are very short-staffed (due to Tory cuts), so nothing ever happens.
In my opinion and considerable experience, it is typical with the Labour Party and with ex-Labour people (primarily South Asians) who have formed their own campaign groups.
Remember Richard Mawley’s comment about the British electoral system would shame a Banana Republic ? Citation available on request.
Curious Cat.
Tower Hamlets has 153,000
Voters.
If 33% are Bengali that’s about 50k. If about 33% are white British and 33% are “other” then they are 50k each.
Bengali turnout: 60%
White turnout: 25%
Other turnout: 25%
= 30k Bengali votes
= 12k White votes
= 12k Other votes
If we consider (I’m guestimating) the proportions who vote for parties based on these groups:
75% of 30K bengali votes back Rabina/Ohid = 22k votes
10% of white votes back Rabina/Ohid = 1.2k votes
50% of Other votes back Rabina/Ohid = 6k votes
Total Ohid/Khan = 29k votes Rabina/Ohid split 50/50 = 15k each first preference
25% bengali votes back Biggs = 8K
60% White back Biggs = 7.5k votes
50% Other votes back Biggs = 6k votes
Total Biggs first preference = 21.5K votes
So if that makes Biggs first place in first round and either Rabina or Ohid second on c.15k.
But then transferred second pref. If 75% of either Ohid or Rabina votes go to their immediate rival then the second place to Biggs would have 15k + 12k = 27k votes meaning Biggs needs about 5.5K votes transferred to him from second preference votes from all the other candidates in third place or below (which is including 1.5k from either Rabina or Ohid voters) to win.
Are these mathematics totally nuts?
Interesting calculation.
If it helps, as I am under the “white middle-class” category. I did not vote for Biggs as I’ve had an experience that suggests that he is not as transparent as he promised to be last time around. Neither did I give the first vote to Ohid, but I did give my second preference to Rabina as she appears to be the least worst of the three main contenders…
You are aware you can leave second preference blank? The vote is still valid. The thought of Rabina getting in gave me proper anxiety attack- back to the days of completely disfunctional Council and THH openly laughing at tenants and leaseholders. I think I’ve got PTSD from the Lutfur administration😱
LBTH has tweeted that turnout for the mayoral election was 41.96%. Based on 153k voters, that’s 64k votes. More than 10k above your estimate.
Why do you expect Rabina to be transparent? Have you seen her manifesto? She promises things impossible to deliver or are plainly wrong, such as estate regeneration- shorthand for social cleansing.
She was in charge of Towee Hamlets Homes under Lutfur, when it was at its worst.
I did not say any such thing, what said was : “I did give my second preference to Rabina as she appears to be the least worst of the three main contenders…”
Where Biggs and Government made a mistake, was not to get behind the group of 4 that took down Lutfur, and put enough money in to take them all down. As such Rabina have not received judgement in court and should be afforded the opportunity to carry on.
Tower Hamlets in the news again:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/may/03/local-election-officials-wrongly-turn-away-eu-citizens-in-tower-hamlets
Tower Hamlets Homes at its worse under Rahman? Yes it was a joke. But under Biggs its a utter disgrace. Staff recruited although not needed almost on a monthly basis. Managers, supervisors sitting around doing nothing. New vans, equipment purchased at great cost and then left to rot. Caretakers clocking on and off when ever their feel like it. Sit around because there are far to many of them, on average do about 60 minutes work a day, before skiving off at three.
Pre THHs when the councils housing stock was two thirds greater, in no way were this amount of housing staff employed. Tenants and leaseholders are being duped with service charges that are no more than fantasy figures made up on a whim. As stated residents are just paying for all these caretakers to basically take the piss.
Don’t you find it strange that Biggs and that MP from Poplar were once so cutting about THHs and all the money we could save by axing it. Now Biggs wont even reply to residents letters and Emails about their concerns at how public money is being wasted. Yes Rabina Khan was also guilty of this.
Sen gets £130,000 for doing nothing. I know many people who work in Jack Dash House and they say it is one big holiday camp. Sen does not care, knowing she has Biggs backing. She loves to waste public money on needless media, a crap magazine, overstaffed Facebook and Twitter accounts.
She did not exactly cover herself in glory at Hackney and Ealing ALMOs. Both i believe now axed. THHs is to use a dreadful cliché is not fit for purpose and that he knows they are wasting public money daily and allows it, is damning. He says he only extended the ALMO to 2020 yet across the whole borough THH staff are refuting this and telling a very large number of residents they are here for good, its a done deal.
Both the Mayor and Councillors haev had many complaints about THH including allegations of criminality. They have all embarked on a conspiracy of silence and done nothing.Councillors who are THH board members appointed by Biggs, can hardly be bothered to even attend meetings.
First round results…
Biggys smashed them up … lol
Biggys 37000
Rubina 13000
Ohid 11000
Rise Sir Biggsy…..
Another 4 years of bumper pay rise…
All hail the king of Tower Hamlets
I agree with every word. Yet things were even worse under Rabina as Lead Member for Housing.
Didn’t take long for a pay rise to your cronies…. Biggys never disappoints… well done and keep up with the good work
Mayoral race has gone to second preference votes between Biggs and Rabina, Ohid/Lutfur/Aspire have been rejected
So Biggs is Back. So far Labour have taken two seats – one from the Tories (Limehouse) and another from TowerHamletsFirst/THiNG/Perspire/PaTH/THAP/THPA (Poplar) I can’t keep up.
Note the LBTH website seems to call People’s Alliance of Tower Hamlets (PATH) Tower Hamlets People’s Alliance.
Where are PATH and Aspire getting their money from? Also Momentum have been under investigation for use of election funds. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__search/s/redirect?collection=electoral-commission&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.electoralcommission.org.uk%2Fi-am-a%2Fjournalist%2Felectoral-commission-media-centre%2Fnews-releases-donations%2Felectoral-commission-statement-regarding-momentum&index_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.electoralcommission.org.uk%2Fi-am-a%2Fjournalist%2Felectoral-commission-media-centre%2Fnews-releases-donations%2Felectoral-commission-statement-regarding-momentum&auth=CpuDjgqGv%2B2OebNfftm1oA&profile=_default&rank=1&query=momentum
Aspire had a very very glossy leaflet- I was wondering who’s financed this- Putin? 😉😂
So did PATH.
The cult led a nasty campaign against Golds and it failed.
Interesting tweet from Andrew Wood.
Biggest issue for now is that on LBTH website it either says
Peoples Alliance Tower Hamlets
and / or
Tower Hamlets Peoples Alliance
for some results i.e. Mile End has both versions
Statement of persons nominated shows they were all Peoples Alliance of Tower Hamlets when nominated
Hopefully this is just an IT error on website but some people are saying ballot papers were wrong as well i.e. said Tower Hamlets Peoples Alliance
If true (& I have no evidence myself) this would be extremely serious. I think original ballot papers need to be produced to prove this.
To see the ballot papers you will need to apply to a County Court or to the High Court, because the papers will have been sealed-up. I understand they are kept for 15 years. As its Tower Hamlets (again) I suggest the High Court.
I fail to see you have any lawful challenge to a nomination based solely on the “party” name. Defrauding the voter ?
Registered political parties use to, and probably still do, have the choice of using 1 main or 8 alternative “descriptions”. The “description” is a de facto “party name”.
For illustrative purposes Clean-up Council Crap political party can also have, and use whenever it wishes, on electoral papers, providing another party has not already registered the name,
Better Labour Services
Honest & Decent Conservatives
Scrap the Council Tax
Repair the Potholes
Second Referendum
Pro European Union
Wake-up Lib Dems
Curious Cat.
You have no idea what you’re talking about.The County Court has no jurisdiction for ordering inspection of ballot papers. The High Court does. Ballot papers are retained for a year and if you don’t see how serious having an unregistered party that has no candidates on a ballot paper, it might be better to say nothing.
-> Jay Kay,
Yes you are correct. My mistake. It is the electoral registers that are retained for 15 years and can be inspected by applying to either the CC or the HC.
P.S. I definitely was NOT talking – merely writing. Note the distinct difference. In Law, the difference is often important and can win cases.
Description on ballot form – please cite legislation supporting your apparent claim.
Any description on a ballot form has to be, or certainly should be, confirmed by reference to the Electoral Commissions’ register of political party names and authorised descriptions.
Have you checked the disputed descriptions (party names on ballot forms) with the Electoral Commissions web site ? If not, why not?
If you have, and can not find them, then in my opinion you should be asking the RO and the ERO (might be the same person) for an explanation. Any irregularity, especially as its the wonderful LBTH, could make an excellent story for the national newspapers. A friend suggests the Daily Mail and if they aren’t interested, try the Mail on Sunday, this Thursday but don’t mention the Daily Mail was indifferent.
Let everyone know how you get on.