Disgraced former Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman is attempting to form a new political party, the BBC understands. Rahman was banned from standing for office for five years in 2015 after being found guilty of electoral fraud.
It is understood that Rahman is starting the party with his former deputy Ohid Ahmad, who is bidding to be elected at the 2018 mayoral election. Campaign literature featuring both men appears under the banner of 'Tower Hamlets Together', and an application with the same name and logo has been sent to the Electoral Commission.
Minister for the Constitution Chris Skidmore has written to the commission asking it to 'forensically review' any application for a new party involving Rahman. In a statement, Ahmad said he was standing in the 2018 mayoral election but had 'yet to finalise whether I will stand as an independent or under a party banner'.
Current Mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs, who won a new election in June 2015 for Labour, said Rahman 'clearly hasn't learned' and added: 'I'm hopeful the people of our borough will recognise that he left us in a dead end and that we need to move forwards.'
