Background

In February we noted that the elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, had been accused at the Election Court inquiring into his re-election of securing victory, inter alia, by telling Muslims that it was their religious duty to vote for him and that Richard Mawrey QC, the Election Commissioner, had said that priests and imams could be committing the 19th-century offence of “spiritual influence” if they told their supporters that it was forbidden to vote for a certain candidate.

The BBC now reports that Mr Rahman has been found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices, barred from standing again and ordered to pay £250,000 in costs. Mr Commissioner Mawrey was satisfied that there had been instances of personation, fraudulent postal voting and the exercise of “undue spiritual influence” on Muslim electors. Continue reading →