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A judge decided last year's poll will be void and banned Lutfur Rahman from standing in an upcoming election.

Rahman, who became the UK's first Muslim mayor when elected in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 2010, was ruled to have used "undue spiritual influence" to religiously blackmail the Bangladeshi community to vote for him

He was also found to have unfairly smeared his opponent in the election, Labour's John Biggs, a racist.

Judge Richard Mawrey, who also found Rahman had given money to Muslim groups to help secure re-election - even giving cash to those who had not applied for grants - said: "Mr Rahman will remark this decision is about racism and Islamophobia but this is nothing of the sort.

"He has carved a successful career of ignoring and flouting laws and silencing critics with claims of Islamophobia. But they have not been silenced and neither will this court.

"This is the result of the ruthless ambition of one man and the real losers here are the citizens of Tower Hamlets and especially the Bangladeshi community.

"The result of this has been to isolate that community and create resentment from other communities.

"He has accused his opponents of dividing the community but if anyone was it was him.

"The benefits were small and temporary for the Muslim community but the effects will be long lasting. It was fools' gold."

Rahman was first elected as mayor in 2010 after breaking away from the Labour Party in Tower Hamlets to stand as an independent.

Before the vote last year he had set up the Tower Hamlets First party.

He won the mayoral election on May 22 and also saw 18 of his candidates, all Bangladeshi, voted into council.

His rule had been controversial with Communities Secretary Eric Pickles ordering commissioners into the borough to oversee spending after a damning BBC Panorama documentary on his governance.

The four voters who brought the election petition to court were praised by the judge for their courage.

However, Rahman was blasted as a "evasive, discourteous and very demonstrably elusive" witness by the judge.