Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman: I’m not a fraudster

Four voters have taken legal action against him over a series of allegations, including personation in postal voting and at polling stations

Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman leaving The High Court (Getty Images)

A mayor accused of electoral fraud has insisted to a special High Court hearing he is not a “liar and a fraudster”.

Lutfur Rahman, the independent Mayor of Tower Hamlets, east London, completed giving evidence today after answering questions over four days at an Election Court trial in London. Four voters have taken legal action against him over a series of allegations, including personation in postal voting and at polling stations, and ballot paper tampering. They want the Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey, who is sitting as a judge, to declare the result of last May’s mayoral election – which saw Mr Rahman elected for a second term – void and order a rerun, after mounting a challenge under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

Mr Rahman, who denies wrongdoing, denied claims from the group’s lawyer that he was trying to “filibuster” proceedings and told Mr Mawrey that he knows he has “a lot to lose”.

“I wanted people to support me on my track record, on my decency, on my character,” Mr Rahman said. “I work very hard and I have a lot to lose.”