Is Tower Hamlets vote fraud really unprecedented?

It is clear from the comments following this post on Trial by Jeory and recent national newspaper coverage that concern is growing about election fraud in Tower Hamlets. Councillors say the evidence is unprecedented.

In his piece Ted Jeory writes: "The council consistently tells us there isn’t a problem. They point to the lack of prosecutions and boast of their stringent controls."

Here's an example of how council officers dealt with unprecedented election fraud evidence back in  2006 - just in case anyone expects them to do anything helpful.

George Galloway: Bradford vs Bethnal Green (UPDATED August 2012)

Update 14 October 


The Guardian assesses the effect of his rape comments on his Bradford spring: ' He insisted his comments had not caused a setback in Bradford. "I haven't lost support in Bradford, no. The people who spoke to you, or the ones you are speaking to me about, never supported me in the first place," he said. While it is true that national membership of Respect continues to grow – having reached 2,000 now, compared with just 300 before the Bradford byelection, according to the party secretary Chris Chilvers – it is disingenuous for Galloway to claim he has not lost support in the constituency.

At the beginning of this month George Galloway said he would sue the NUS (BBC) for accusing him of being a rape denier.

Blog across the border, some law stuff and a new weapon in Hackney

If you like your politics raw and dripping with blood then you'll enjoy the world of Tower Hamlets council as portrayed in Ted Jeory's new blog Trial by Jeory. Find out here why Hackney residents have a few things to be grateful for.

But, in Hackney, how are things settling down after the election?

Disappointingly in the legal department. Bambos Charalambous, in-house lawyer for Hackney Council was the unsuccessful Labour ­party candidate for Enfield Southgate (he lost to the Conservatives - 14,302 votes to 21,928). According to the Lawyer: "He was one of those who experienced the deflation of returning to the day job on Monday morning."

But, as the Lawyer explains, Bambos will still have his political hands full for a while to come: "For Charalambous, the night was one of mixed fortunes due to his local Labour group winning back Enfield Council from the Tories after eight years in opposition. The result means Charalambous has become acting leader of the council until the party can find someone with a less demanding day job."

A relief considering the problems facing Hackney's understaffed legal team. Hopefully his time in the legal department will be spent doing something useful... (possibly not pursuing a local community newspaper, as suggested in a comment at the bottom of this piece in the Citizen)

No doubt he'll be getting the same flexi-time deal as all those Conservative council leaders working in Hackney Council.

A new weapon used by Hackney kids: If you can make it past the claim that the whole of "Hackney has become known as murder mile" you'll find there's a new weapon on our streets. An interviewee told the Daily Star: "Beware if you see a big group all on crutches - they're the new weapon of choice."