Aspire is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England, formed by Lutfur Rahman and councillors elected as members of his

Tower Hamlets First Tower Hamlets First was a British political party represented in Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, which was launched to contest the 2014 local elections in the Borough. During its existence, it was the second largest party on Tower Hamlets ...

. After Tower Hamlets First was removed from the register of political parties following voting fraud and malpractice, its councillors formed the Tower Hamlets Independent Group (THIG). After some defections, the remaining Tower Hamlets Independent Group councillors registered formally as a political party in 2018. Most of its elected members were former Labour Party members, with a few exceptions. It was the largest political opposition on

Tower Hamlets Council Tower Hamlets London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London, England. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets, c ...

before the 2018 May elections and then gained majority control of the council in the 2022 election, winning 24 of the council's 45 seats. Rahman was also re-elected mayor in those elections.

Background

was established by Lutfur Rahman on 18 September 2013. Formerly the Labour leader of Tower Hamlets council, Rahman had been elected as Mayor in 2010. The party stood candidates in the

2014 Tower Hamlets Council election Elections to Tower Hamlets London Borough Council took place on 22 May 2014, the same day as other United Kingdom local elections, the election of the directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets, and the European Parliament elections. Voting in Bl ...

, where it won 18 out of 45 seats, becoming the second-largest party on Tower Hamlets Council and the fifth-largest political party out of all London borough councils. The party was suspended in 23 April 2015, after an

election court In United Kingdom election law, election court is a special court convened to hear a petition against the result of a local government or parliamentary election. The court is created to hear the individual case, and ceases to exist when it ha ...

report that found Rahman "personally guilty of 'corrupt or illegal practices' or both" with the party labelled as a "one-man band". The party was removed from the

list of political parties Lists of political parties include: * List of agrarian parties * List of banned political parties * List of centrist political parties * List of communitarian political parties * List of fictional political parties * List of frivolous politica ...

maintained by the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

on 29 April 2015. Following the dissolution of Tower Hamlets First, the majority of former party members established the Tower Hamlets Independent Group (THIG) to co-ordinate activity on the council. Six members subsequently left the Tower Hamlets Independent Group to form the competing People's Alliance group. The remaining THIG councillors then became Aspire. Although then barred from running for elected office himself, Rahman was behind the party. Aspire was his second attempt at a new party after an application under the name 'Tower Hamlets Together' was rejected. The ideology of the party is self-described as a form of democratic socialism. It has been criticized for only fielding candidates of Bangladeshi heritage for the 2022 Tower Hamlets local election, with only three of their candidates being female. Shortly after these elections, new allegations arose over voter intimidation, family voting and impersonating voters were raised by independent observers.

Initial representation

Between its formation and the May 2018 elections, Aspire councillors occupied 10 of the 45 council seats on the

. Ohid Ahmed was a senior Labour Party councillor as a cabinet member between 2002 and 2010. He was also the Labour Party candidate for West Suffolk in 2010, and Deputy Mayor of Tower Hamlets between 2010 and 2014. Harun Miah was formerly a

Respect Party The Respect Party was a left-wing to far-left, socialist political party active in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2016. At the height of its success in 2007, the party had one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons and nineteen ...

Councillor. Maium Miah was formerly a Conservative Party councillor for Millwall before joining Tower Hamlets First, and stood in

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lon ...

ward in 2014. The party's general secretary, Lillian Collins, was formerly Labour's party chair in Tower Hamlets.

Election results

2018 Borough Council Election

Ohid Ahmed stood in the 2018 election for directly elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets, coming third behind Labour and the

People's Alliance of Tower Hamlets The People's Alliance of Tower Hamlets (PATH) was a minor political party in Tower Hamlets, London, England composed of councillors who had formerly been members of Tower Hamlets First and then the Tower Hamlets Independent Group. The group was ...

, a group that had earlier split from the Tower Hamlets Independent Group. Ahmed was endorsed by Rahman. On 4 April 2018, Aspire launched its campaign for the borough elections in Tower Hamlets, with a full slate of 45 council candidates. It won no seats.

By-elections 2018–2022

Aspire stood in two council by-elections in Tower Hamlets on 7 February 2019, with Harun Miah winning the one in Shadwell ward and Ohid Ahmed coming second in Lansbury ward. On 12 August 2021, Aspire stood in the by-election to the Weavers ward via candidate Kabir Ahmed winning 47%. He had served some years as Councillor until 2014. That election followed the death of the Labour incumbent.

2022 Borough Council Election

Following a five-year ban from holding public office, Lutfur Rahman was again elected as

Mayor of Tower Hamlets The mayor of Tower Hamlets is the directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets London Borough Council in east London, England. The first election for this position occurred on 21 October 2010, taking on the executive function of the borough counci ...

in the May 2022 local elections, defeating Labour incumbent John Biggs. Aspire was also successful in the Borough Council election, winning a majority with 24 out of 45 seats.

References

External links

Aspire registration
{{Political parties in the United Kingdom 2018 establishments in England Political parties established in 2018 Locally based political parties in England Tower Hamlets First