Founded 18 September 2013 | Ideology Social democracy | |
Leader Lutfur Rahman (founder)
(18 September 2013–23 April 2015)
Vacant (23–29 April 2015) Dissolved 23 April 2015 (suspended)
29 April 2015 (registration cancelled) | ||
Tower Hamlets First was a British political party represented in Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, which was launched to contest the 2014 local elections. At the 2014 London borough council elections, it was the second largest party on Tower Hamlets Council and the fifth largest political party out of all London borough councils.
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Established by Lutfur Rahman on 18 September 2013, Tower Hamlets First was led by him until 23 April 2015, when the party was suspended following an Election Court report that found Rahman "personally guilty of 'corrupt or illegal practices' or both" with the party labelled as a "one-man band". The party was removed from the list of political parties maintained by the Electoral Commission on 29 April 2015.
Overview
The party stood candidates in the 2014 Tower Hamlets Council election, where it won 18 out of 45 seats, becoming the second largest party on Tower Hamlets Council, and the fifth largest political party out of all London borough councils. Nick Cohen in The Guardian described the party as a cult of personality surrounding Lutfur Rahman.
Dissolution and aftermath
Tower Hamlets First faced ongoing accusations of using intimidation, fraud and bribery to gain votes and having divisive policies. In April 2014, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, ordered an investigation into suspected governance failure, poor financial management and fraud in Tower Hamlets.
The Tower Hamlets council, led by Tower Hamlets First, launched a legal appeal to try to prevent the review but the appeal was rejected, being described as "hopeless" by a High Court judge.
The subsequent investigation by the Department for Communities and Local Government carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers, found a "culture of cronyism" but no fraud at the council.
Pickles determined the council was not meeting its "Best Value duties", and sent in commissioners to run the council's grant-making system and approve any disposals of council property until March 2017.
In September 2014, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, accused the party of being socially divisive and having sectarian politics.
In April 2015, following an Election Court ruling detailed below, the party was removed from the register of political parties by the Electoral Commission.
It was stated that the party was not operating a responsible financial scheme and the running of the party did not follow the documentation given in the party’s registration.
The finding against Lutfur Rahman was the subject of numerous controversies. In April 2015, he was said to be "personally guilty of corrupt or illegal practices, or both", and of having "breached the rules governing elections." The result of the 2014 mayoral election result was nullified, thereby requiring a new election to be held from which Rahman was banned from standing; The ban has similar effect until 2021. A council by-election in the ward of Stepney was also called.
Following the judgement of the Election Court, the Electoral Commission released a statement confirming that Tower Hamlets First had been removed from its register of political parties owing to a failure to implement the financial scheme that was submitted to the Commission upon registration of the party. Individuals previously associated, affiliated, or identified with Tower Hamlets First subsequently stood as independent candidates in this subsequent double by-election, but Labour gained both the mayoralty and the council, by a simple absolute overall majority of 1.
The party then re-organised to become Tower Hamlets Independent Group (THIG). Four councillors have defected to become Independents, while one stood down amid allegations of housing fraud.