Luthfur Rahman (; born October 1976) is a British former

local councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a Municipality, muni ...

, who served as the deputy leader of

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

from 2021 to 2024. In May

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he became the first person of

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

origin to be elected a Councillor on Manchester City Council.

Early life

Luthfur Rahman was born into a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

family from Shathal in Patli, Jagannathpur in the

Sunamganj District Sunamganj District (), is a district located in north-eastern Bangladesh in Sylhet Division. History In the ancient period, Sunamganj was part of the Laur Kingdom. After the conquest of Sylhet (Kingdom of Gauiurh) in 1303 by Muslims under the sp ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. Migrating to

Longsight Longsight is an inner city area of Manchester, England, south of the Manchester City Centre, city centre, bounded by Ardwick and Gorton, West Gorton to the north and east; Levenshulme to the south; and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Victoria Park, Man ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

as a child in 1980, Luthfur Rahman attended St Agnes Primary School and

Burnage High School Burnage Academy for Boys, formerly known as Burnage High School for Boys, is an 11–16 boys secondary school with academy status, located in Burnage, Manchester, England. The school was founded in September 1932 as Burnage High School on its c ...

Career

Luthfur Rahman was first elected to

, taking the seat from the Liberal Democrats with a swing of over 30 percent gaining a majority of 1147. He was re-elected in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, doubling his majority. In 2010, Luthfur Rahman was elected by fellow Councillors to be the lead member for the race and equality portfolio at Manchester City Council. In the 2024 local elections, Luthfur Rahman lost his Longsight ward seat to Shahbaz Sarwar of The Workers Party of Britain (WPB) by 184 votes. The surge in support for the WPB has been attributed to the national position of the Labour Party on

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

Recognition

In 2011, Luthfur Rahman was awarded the Community Champion of the Year at the

Local Government Information Unit The Local Government information Unit (LGiU) is a local government membership body, thinktank and registered charity. Established in 1983 as a membership organisation for UK local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest t ...

Councillor Awards. The Local Government Information Unit described Luthfur Rahman as having

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

has said of Luthfur Rahman He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to local government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luthfur Rahman 1976 births Living people 21st-century British politicians Politicians from Manchester Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in Manchester Bangladeshi Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Longsight English politicians English Muslims English Sunni Muslims Bangladeshi Muslims Bangladeshi emigrants to England Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom English people of Bangladeshi descent People from Patli Union Politicians from Sylhet Division

Early life

Career

Recognition

See also

References