In the 2022 Tower Hamlets local elections, something unprecedented happened. The borough elected a mayor previously banned from taking part in politics. That’s not all. His party, Aspire, not only took the council from Labour but gained more seats than Labour across the whole of England. At the centre of all of this was Lutfur Rahman, the former and new mayor of Tower Hamlets. On Downstream, Aaron Bastani talks to Lutfur about climate, rent controls, clearing his name, and looking to the future.