The Daily Telegraph’s Andrew Gilligan has focused his attention on Tower Hamlets politician Lutfur Rahman over recent years.

The former Labour man is now the independent directly-elected mayor of the borough.

Headlines from the paper over the past few months and years include:

  • Lutfur Rahman council promotes extremist preacher who supports wife-beating
  • Lutfur Rahman council: homophobic hatred grows
  • Lutfur Rahman: the ‘chief coordinator’ of his election campaign says he has ‘strategic relationship’ with extremist IFE
  • Lutfur Rahman gives Ken Livingstone crony a top job
  • Lutfur Rahman: less scrutiny by you, more money for him

You are free to read more of his coverage of the London borough’s directly elected mayor by clicking here.

Mr Rahman, of course, was removed as Labour candidate for mayor in the borough last year.

A statement by the Labour party on September 21 last year said:

Having received a number of serious allegations concerning both the eligibility of participating voters and the conduct of Lutfur Rahman, the NEC has decided to investigate the allegations made. As a result, administrative action has been taken to remove Lutfur Rahman as a candidate pending the investigation. Nominations for Tower Hamlets mayor close this week and in the circumstances the NEC had no option but to impose another candidate.

He stood against the party’s replacement candidate as an independent, and won at a canter.

But having stood against the Labour party in a major election, imagine my surprise when I came across the following video ahead of the May 5 election.

It shows Lutfur Rahman and some of his Tower Hamlets associates being lavished with praise by city Labour politicians for helping with the election campaign. They included Leicester East MP Keith Vaz, Jon Ashworth, who later that day was declared the new Leicester South MP, and Sir Peter Soulsby who was later voted in as elected mayor. Several of Labour’s city councillors are in attendance also. Curious.