In their opening statement, ​seen ​by the Telegraph, the petitioners claim Mr Rahman has “a long history of abusing his power, inciting his supporters to intimidate his opponents, including through threats of violence, and corruptly funding organisations to promote him politically.” They will say he personally registered fake Labour Party members and voters, with “nine adult members of his family registered to vote” by 2012 at his terraced house in Spitalfields, many of whom had never lived there or moved out years before. The election, the petitioners say, involved “widespread and organised postal voting fraud” and ballot-paper tampering.