Tower Hamlets faces investigation

Tower Hamlets in East London, one of the UK's most controversial councils is facing an investigation by the Electoral Commission, after a local vote count was delayed by five days, says the 'Independent'. Local Conservative and Labour politicians claimed to have witnessed heavy-handed tactics and intimidation at polling stations in the borough, which only declared its full results on Tuesday evening. The two final seats in Bromley South were bagged by the Labour party, making it the largest party on the council. The attack on the “rotten borough” was led by Peter Golds, leader of the Conservative group at the council, who told 'The Independent' that Tower Hamlets had been the stage for 'third-world village politics'. Mr Golds claimed he had witnessed crowds of supporters from the Tower Hamlets First party – founded by the local mayor Lutfur Rahman – shouting at voters and leaving leaflets inside polling booths, in the culmination of what he called a “vicious dirty tricks campaign”. Tower Hamlets, which sits between the financial centres of the City and Canary Wharf, has been the scene of fractious election disputes since Mr Rahman swept to power in 2010 and formed a cabinet made up entirely of Bangladeshi Muslims. His party has won 18 seats in last week’s local election, but Labour’s success on Tuesday in the Bromley Wards means the party has 20 seats in all, according to bdnews24.com.