Cllr Dr
Rohit K. Dasgupta
FRAS FHEA
Personal details
BornKolkata, India
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour Party, Co-operative Party
Alma materUniversity of the Arts London, University of Westminster, Jadavpur University
ProfessionAcademic, Politician
Known forQueer Politics, South Asian Studies, Cultural Industries, Labour Politics

Rohit K. Dasgupta FRAS, FHEA is an academic in the School of Culture and Creative Arts at the University of Glasgow[1] and a British Labour Party politician.[2] Prior to this he was based at the Institute for Media and Creative Industries at Loughborough University.[3] In 2018 he was elected Councillor in the London Borough of Newham for the Canning Town South Ward.[4][5] He was re-elected for the same ward again in 2022 [6] He contested the Parliamentary seat of East Hampshire for the Labour Party in 2017, coming second with an increase of 7% vote share.[7] He is also Secretary of the Newham Branch of the Fabian Society.[8] In 2019 he was selected as an MEP candidate for the South East region (5th on the list) but failed to get elected.[9] Dasgupta is also a member of Labour's National Policy Forum and sits on the Work, Pensions and Equality Policy Commission.[10]

Background

Dasgupta gained a BA degree in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University, India, then graduated MA in English from the University of Westminster, PGCE from the University of West London, and PhD from the University of the Arts.[3]

Political career

He was elected as a Labour and Co-operative party Councillor in the London Borough of Newham for the Canning Town South Ward in the 2018 United Kingdom Local elections.[4][5][11] Following his election he was appointed Commissioner for Social Integration and Equalities in Newham since 2019 by the Mayor. He had previously contested the East Hampshire parliamentary seat in the General election, coming second with 17% of the vote share.[12] Dasgupta is also the Chair of his local Labour party branch[13] and Secretary of the Newham Fabian Society.[14] He was one of the first Bengalis from West Bengal, India to contest the British Parliamentary elections.[15][16][17] Dasgupta is also a member of BAME Labour, Labour Movement for Europe, Fabian Society, GMB and UCU. In 2018 he was elected on to the national committee of LGBT Labour.[18] In 2019 he was selected as an MEP candidate for the South East region but failed to get elected.[9][19] He has previously expressed his opposition to Brexit and support for a second referendum.[20]

Academic career

Dasgupta is Senior Lecturer in Cultural Industries and Programme Convenor for Creative Industries and Cultural Policy at the University of Glasgow. He has previously worked at Loughborough University, Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton; University of the Arts London and University of Sussex . Dasgupta has authored and edited several books on media and digital culture, cinema, sexuality, gender, sexual health, anthropology and activism.[21] He has also written for outlets such The Independent, The Conversation, Tribune Magazine, Left Foot Forward, Labour List and the Huffington Post.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28] He has been involved in strike action against pension cuts, organising against homophobia and supporting inclusive relationship and sex education.[29][30][31]

Electoral history

2017 General Election

General Election 2017: East Hampshire[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Damian Hinds 35,263 63.6 +3.0
Labour Rohit Dasgupta 9,411 17.0 +6.9
Liberal Democrats Richard Robinson 8,403 15.2 +4.1
Green Richard Knight 1,760 3.2 -3.0
Justice & Anti-Corruption Susan Jerrard 571 1.0 +1.0
Majority 25,852 46.6 -2.1
Turnout 55,567 75.6 +4.5
Conservative hold Swing Decrease 1.95

2018 Local Election

Canning Town South (3)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alan Griffiths 1,991 23
Labour Rohit Dasgupta 1,965 22
Labour Belgica Guana 1,693 19
Conservative Marc Pooler 643 7
Conservative Mark Seymour 559 6
Liberal Democrats Caroline Carey 552 6
Green Danny Keeling 464 5
Conservative Mahyar Tousi 378 4
CPA Myrtle Laing 222 3
CPA Sharmila Swarna 145 2
CPA Prossy Namwanje 144 2
Labour hold Swing
Labour hold Swing
Labour hold Swing

2019 European Parliament election

Date of election Region Party Votes Percentage of votes Result
2019 European election South East England John Howarth(10), Cathy Shutt, Arran Richard Neathey, Emma Christina Turnbull, Rohit K. Dasgupta, Amy Lauren Fowler, Duncan Shaw Thomas Enright, Lubna Aiysha Arshad, Simon Guy Burgess, Rachael Eowyn Ward Labour 184,678 7.27 Not Elected

2022 Local Election

Canning Town South (3)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rohit Kumar Dasgupta 630
Labour Alan Griffiths 585
Labour Belgica Guana 536
Independent Carel Jane Buxton 187
Green Oliver Reynolds 185
Green Deb Scott 161
Independent Darshi Wijesinghe 155
Conservative Tim Gamble 144
Conservative Marc James Pooler 122
Green Benjamin Ian Smith 106
Conservative Rachel Nabudde 103
CPA Myrtle Verona Laing 74
CPA Sharmila Sundar Swarna 54
CPA Prossy Namwanje 50
Turnout
Labour hold Swing
Labour hold Swing
Labour hold Swing

Writing

Books

References

  1. ^ "Rohit Dasgupta". University of Glasgow.
  2. ^ "Councillor Rohit Kumar Dasgupta". Newham Council. 16 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Our staff | Loughborough University London". www.lborolondon.ac.uk.
  4. ^ a b "Election Results from Canning Town South". Newham Council. 3 May 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Your Councillors by Ward". Newham Council. 16 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Newham Council Local Elections 2022". Newham London.
  7. ^ "Hampshire East parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 - BBC News" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  8. ^ "Local Fabians | Fabian Society".
  9. ^ a b "Labour candidates for the European elections". The Labour Party.
  10. ^ "Rohit Dasgupta". Labour Policy Forum.
  11. ^ Dasgupta, Priyanka. "Kolkata youth now a London councillor". Times of India.
  12. ^ "Election hopefuls grilled at hustings". Alton Herald.
  13. ^ Rampen, Julia. "How a mayoral selection in Newham is turning into an attempted coup".
  14. ^ Hopps, Kat (2 February 2017). "Fabian nomination in Newham mayoral vote 'breached society's rules'". Newham Recorder.
  15. ^ Roy, Amit. "To read British pulse, watch Calcutta boy's contest". Archived from the original on 12 July 2018.
  16. ^ "Calcutta boy answers call to Brexit battle". Archived from the original on 20 October 2017.
  17. ^ "From Student Politics To Contesting The UK Parliamentary Elections: Here's The Story Of A 29-Year-Old Kolkata Boy". 3 May 2017.
  18. ^ "National Committee". LGBT Labour.
  19. ^ "Newham councillor to stand against Nigel Farage in the EU elections". 19 April 2019.
  20. ^ "Sign in". PV Staff.
  21. ^ "Loughborough University Research Publications". publications.lboro.ac.uk.
  22. ^ Dasgupta, Rohit (8 February 2018). "Coming out isn't as easy as you think for a LGBT+ person of colour". The Independent.
  23. ^ Dasgupta, Rohit. "Why I Refuse To Blame The English Working Class For Brexit". Huffington Post.
  24. ^ Dasgupta, Rohit. "Why Queer Folk Must Vote Against Brexit". Huffington Post.
  25. ^ Dasgupta, Rohit. "Coronavirus lockdown: LGBTQ people face hostility and loneliness". The Conversation.
  26. ^ Dasgupta, Rohit. "Don't Send More Homophobic Voices to Europe". Tribune.
  27. ^ Dasgupta, Rohit (24 April 2019). "Why I'm standing against Nigel Farage in the European elections". Left Foot Forward.
  28. ^ Dasgupta, Rohit. "We must not turn our back on BAME communities to gain votes elsewhere". Labour List.
  29. ^ Bickerton, James (14 March 2018). "Hackney Mayor joins lecturers on picket line". Hackney Post.
  30. ^ King, Jon (18 June 2019). "Canning Town councillor calls for unity to defeat homophobia and stop hate crime". Newham Recorder.
  31. ^ Nye, Catrin (30 August 2019). "Protest leaflets claim relationship education teaches infants masturbation". BBC News.
  32. ^ "Hampshire East parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
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