Cllr Dr Rohit K. Dasgupta FRAS FHEA
Personal details
Born	Kolkata, India
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour Party, Co-operative Party
Alma mater	University of the Arts London, University of Westminster, Jadavpur University
Profession	Academic, Politician
Known for	Queer 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	1.95

Writing

References