Tower Hamlets voters give New Labour establishment a thrashing

Congratulations to Lutfur Rahman, the new Mayor of Tower Hamlets. The election result - excellent news for anyone broadly on the left - came through in the early hours. The leaflet (pictured) was circulated by Labour in an attempt to discredit Rahman. Jon Lansman at Left Futures tells the tale:

'Lutfur Rahman is Mayor of Tower Hamlets. He won 23,283 votes, 52% of the total — 10% more than Labour did in the general election in the borough — and Labour’s Abbas won just 11,254 or 25%.

The Tories won 12% and the Lib Dems 6%, little more than half and a third of their general election scores respectively. Only the Greens, of the established parties, increased their vote — from 1% to 5%. Respect, who had won 17% of the vote in May, did not stand but their voters clearly rallied behind Lutfur.

It is a victory for the local Labour Party members who selected him as a candidate and a massive defeat, not for Ed Miliband, but for Ray Collins, party general secretary, and the witch-hunters who hounded him into standing as an independent. We can only hope that efforts will now be made to re-unite the party and retain or re-admit to membership Lutfur and any Labour members who supported him.'


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