Newham Council has elected Councillor Dr Rohit K Dasgupta as its Chair and First Citizen.
At the Annual Meeting of Council held on 22 May 2025, it was resolved that Councillor Dr Rohit K Dasgupta be elected Chair, and that Councillor Imam Haque be elected Vice Chair of the London Borough of Newham Council for the 2025/2026 Municipal Year.
Councillor Dr Rohit K Dasgupta was born in Calcutta, India. He holds qualifications in Comparative Literature, English, Education, Human Rights and Communication & Cultural Studies from Jadavpur University, University of Westminster, UWL, School of Advanced Studies, University of London and the University of the Arts London. He is currently an Associate Professor in Gender Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow. He has also held teaching and research roles and visiting fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania, Fordham University, University of Southampton and Loughborough University.
Councillor Dasgupta was first elected to the Council in 2018 and re-elected in May 2022 as the representative for the Canning Town South Ward.
In addition to his political work, Councillor Dasgupta is a trade unionist, anti-racist campaigner, and LGBTQ+ rights activist. He has published 15 books on areas such as digital culture, cultural policy, sexuality, identity and activism
In 2025, Councillor Dasgupta became the first individual of Indian Bengali origin and queer identified to be elected Chair and First Citizen of Newham Council.
Invite the First Citizen to your event
If you would like the First Citizen to visit an event you are hosting, give out some awards or come to anything else that is happening in the borough, please complete the invitation form.
For a word version and for all other correspondence for the Chair of Council please email Civic.Ambassadors@newham.gov.uk
Download Invite the First Citizen Document (Word)
Download Invite the First Citizen Document (PDF)
Current Chair Of Council 2025-2026 & Current Deputy Chair of Council
Councillor Dr Rohit K Dasgupta, Current Chair Of Council 2025-2026
Councillor Imam Haque, Deputy Chair Of Council 2024-2025 and Vice Chair of Council 2025-2026
Former Chairs And Deputy Chairs Of Council
Councillor Rohima Rahman, Former Chair Of Council 2023-2025
Councillor Winston Vaughan, former Chair of Council 2021-2023 & Councillor Mumtaz Khan, former Deputy Chair of Council 2021-2022
Councillor Salim Patel, Former Deputy Chair of Council 2022-2024
