Rohit K. Dasgupta

Rohit K. Dasgupta FRAS, FHEA is an academic in the Institute for Media and Creative Industries at Loughborough University[1] and a British Labour Party politician.[2] In 2018 he was elected Councillor in the London Borough of Newham for the Canning Town South Ward.[3][4] He contested the Parliamentary seat of East Hampshire for the Labour Party in 2017, coming second with an increase of 7% vote share.[5] He is also Secretary of the Newham Branch of the Fabian Society.[6] In 2019 he was selected as an MEP candidate for the South East region (5th on the list).[7]

Cllr Dr

Rohit K. Dasgupta

FRAS FHEA
Personal details
BornKolkata, India
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of the Arts London, University of Westminster, Jadavpur University
ProfessionAcademic, Politician
Known forQueer Studies, South Asian Studies, Labour Politics

Background

Dasgupta gained a BA degree in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University, India, then graduated MA in English literature from the University of Westminster, PGCE from the University of West London, and PhD from the University of the Arts.[8]

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.[9][10][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 a MEP candidate for the South East region but failed to get elected.[19][20] He has previously expressed his opposition to Brexit and support for a second referendum.[21]

Academic career

Dasgupta is Senior Lecturer and Programme Director in Global Communication and Development at Loughborough University. He has previously worked at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton; University of the Arts London and University of Sussex . Dasgupta has authored and edited nine books on media and digital culture, sexuality, gender, sexual health, anthropology and activism.[22] He has also written for The Independent on LGBTQ rights movement in the United Kingdom[23] and for the Huffington Post on Brexit.[24][25] He was recently involved in strike action due to the UCU pension dispute.[26]

Electoral history

2017 general election
General Election 2017: East Hampshire[27]
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 1.95

2018 local election

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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
Christian Peoples Alliance Myrtle Laing 222 3
Christian Peoples Alliance Sharmila Swarna 145 2
Christian Peoples Alliance 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 Labour 184,678 7.27 Not Elected

Writing

Books
gollark: Apple² is good because it lets us do dimensional analysis on apple-related equations.
gollark: This is excellent documentation.
gollark: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/426116061415342080/964952448223576114/IMG_8286.png?wi
gollark: Surely you can just `pacman -S` it.
gollark: I see.

References
  1. "Loughborough University Staff Page".
  2. "Councillor Rohit Kumar Dasgupta". Newham Council.
  3. "Election Results from Canning Town South". Newham Council.
  4. "Your Councillors by Ward". Newham Council.
  5. "BBC General Election Results for East Hampshire".
  6. "Local Fabians".
  7. "Our candidates for the European elections".
  8. "Loughborough University Staff Page".
  9. "Election Results from Canning Town South". Newham Council.
  10. "Your Councillors by Ward". Newham Council.
  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. "Fabian nomination in Newham mayoral vote 'breached society's rules'". Newham Recorder.
  15. Roy, Amit. "To read British pulse, watch Calcutta boy's contest".
  16. "Calcutta boy answers call to Brexit battle".
  17. "From Student Politics To Contesting The UK Parliamentary Elections: Here's The Story Of A 29-Year-Old Kolkata Boy".
  18. "National Committee". LGBT Labour.
  19. "Our candidates for the European elections".
  20. "Newham councillor to stand against Nigel Farage in the EU elections".
  21. "Majority of Labour's top MEP slots go to backers of a People's Vote".
  22. "Publications for Rohit K Dasgupta".
  23. Dasgupta, Rohit. "Coming out isn't as easy as you think for a LGBT+ person of colour". The Independent.
  24. Dasgupta, Rohit. "Why I Refuse To Blame The English Working Class For Brexit". Huffington Post.
  25. Dasgupta, Rohit. "Why Queer Folk Must Vote Against Brexit". Huffington Post.
  26. Bickerton, James. "Hackney Mayor joins lecturers on picket line". Hackney Post.
  27. "Hampshire East parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
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