Neil Wilby Media

A notorious, unemployed, Tameside-based, ‘Walter Mitty’ conspiracy theorist has, over the past six months or so, vacillated over whether or not he intends to stand as a Parliamentary candidate in a locality in which he has not lived since 2004: The pendulum at the time of writing this article swinging back in favour. Two weeks ago, it was against when a previous article was written on the topic (read in full here).

Raja Miah, according to his LinkedIn profile, ‘left behind the small town of Oldham’ almost 20 years ago, as soon as he could afford to do so and, mysteriously given his employment status, both at the time of that move and currently, maintains a plush lifestyle in the upmarket commuter town of Mossley. Set in the Stalybridge and Hyde constituency and abutting both those of Oldham East and Saddleworth and Ashton-under-Lyne; seats all currently held by Labour MPs: Jonathan Reynolds (holding a majority of 2.946),  Debbie Abrahams (majority 2,500) and Angela Rayner (majority 4,263).

But Miah’s stated intention is to jump out of Stalybridge, leapfrog both Oldham East and Ashton and land his persistent, mendacious lies and routinely divisive, hateful social media narrative in Oldham West and Royton, where Jim McMahon has held the seat since 2015. His frequently banned ‘Recusant Nine‘ platforms on such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Telegram are the Raja power base. Much of the content these days is hidden behind subscriber restrictions with a very small audience to avoid even more frequent bans from the social media giants.

In an open, fair democracy any eligible person can stand in any poll; parish, local, mayoral, police commissioner and general election. That is Raja Miah’s right to exercise.

This article will, in the public interest, put those credentials, and the likelihood of his name ever appearing on a ballot paper in Oldham, to the test. The starting point is this post on the frequently-banned Recusant Nine Facebook page operated by Miah, on 23rd July, 2023:

“This is the link to the [£30,000] crowdfunder for our campaign to oust Labour from Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton. McMAHON has a 25,000 vote head start and the entire machinery of the Labour Party to support him. He also has the support of the press, police and block Muslim vote. So far we have had 6 people support our fundraiser and raised £215. It really is this simple. I’ve more than proven my worth. Support me or surrender the town and all that you once loved about the place you call home”.

Firstly, some clarifications may assist the reader:

– There is no rationale, or any form of financial analysis, provided by ‘The Malicious Beggar’ (or, more simply ‘The Beggar), as Raja Miah is widely known, for targeting the sum of £30,000 in ‘campaign funds’. During the 2019 general election, the successful candidate spent less than £10,000 against a limit set by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) of around £16,000. It would not be at all unreasonable to posit that the need for such a sum is more to do with his present High Court and magistrates’ court misadventures (read more here) than an election that might not take place before January, 2025.

– The ‘our’ refers to his support group whom, appositely, self-style as The Rabble (or Raja’s Rabble) and comprise, largely, of elderly cranks, misfits, axe-grinders and political malcontents, many of whom are on State benefits in one form or another. Some of its leading members, along with Miah, are in the picture beneath the headline of this article, behind the public gallery security screens in place to protect the councillors, paid officers and press seated in the Oldham Council chamber below. Twelve of The Rabble, including Miah, received Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction warnings in the Autumn of 2022 following disgraceful scenes of public disorder at two successive council meetings, another one, Gary Leese, was prosecuted and convicted (read more here). Another, Garry Dunkerley (red polo shirt on left), is the Borough’s most notorious burglar (read more here). ‘Duggy Dunk’, in a field of plenty, is one of The Rabble’s most appalling and prolific internet trolls occupying a prominent position in the darkest corners of the local internet. Those two are far from being the only criminals in The Rabble contingent, which is believed to number around 150 at present, having recently dropped from a peak of 200.

– In the last general election, in December 2019 and against a Conservative landslide, Jim McMahon polled 24, 579 votes from an electorate of 72,999, recording a majority of 11,127. The turnout in the constituency was 60.9%, significantly lower than the average across the rest of England and the UK (67.3%). Against a completely different political backdrop, with Labour completely dominant in the opinion polls, it would appear mission impossible to unseat him. A close political ally of Raja Miah, and one of the founders and most prominent members of The Rabble, Debbie Barratt-Cole, polled 533 votes in that election and lost her deposit.

– The Labour Party machinery will, doubtless, support one of its hardest working and effective local MPs and experienced Shadow Ministers. But its focus will, surely, be on the Red Wall seats given up to the Boris Johnson-led Tories and marginal seats that could go either way.

– The proposition that the police and the local and regional press are controlled, and in the case of the latter, funded by Labour is a regular Recusant Nine trope, lapped up by The Rabble but, as is almost always the case, with no basis in facts or evidence. Alternatively, if they were, they are doing a very poor job indeed as, since May, 2021, Labour has lost 13 of its 45 seats on Oldham Council and seen three Labour Leaders deposed in that same period. The reality is that flawed decision-making, inept campaigning and poor organisation would be a more realistic grounding for those Oldham Labour losses.

– Similarly, with the Muslim block vote trope: If it is in such a Labour stranglehold, as Miah repeatedly infers, then it is more than odd that, in its very heartland, the St Mary’s ward centred on Glodwick, the Red Rose cannot win all three council seats. Independent councillor, Aftab Hussain, holding one of them since 2016. Similarly, in the most recent local elections in Oldham, the Conservatives fielded three Muslim candidates in the historically ‘safe’ Labour ward in Hollinwood and they swept the board.

– ‘I’ve more than proven my worth’ says Miah. But to whom, apart from himself, is the question to which the electorate in Oldham West will want answers. Raja has now milked an estimated £40,000 from his supporters over the past four years through his various Recusant Nine money-making schemes. Including regular crowd-funders. But he has never produced any form of accounting or receipts for any expenditure, purportedly on behalf of The Rabble.

– But the last line of that Facebook post is much the most self-indulgent, mildly threatening to his cult followers and, of course, palpably false: ‘Support me or surrender the town and all that you once loved about the place you call home’. Firstly, The Rabble probably has only around 50 members, about a third of their strength, who live in Oldham West and Royton. A large proportion live in the other two constituencies with around 10% not living in any of the three. Secondly, how could even the most gullible or delusional of The Rabble (for which there is very strong competition) believe that Raja Miah, having landed the 1,000,000/1 chance of being elected as an independent MP could ‘save’ the constituents from surrendering to an, as yet, unspecified fate? Most of the 70,000 eligible voters have probably never heard of Raja Miah, other than reading about his record breaking number of magistrates’ court appearances (read more here) over which he claims there is a political motivation and denies any wrongdoing.

Having forensically de-constructed the Recusant Nine post, and posited matters that must alarm even the most ardent Rabbler, there are yet more weighty matters to consider regarding his potential candidacy. The most prominent being his eligibility to stand against Jim McMahon MP, the subject of what Miah himself describes as ‘a vendetta’. that has now run for over 4 years Characterised by what many consider to be a relentless stream of harassing and defamatory posts by ‘The Beggar’. The Electoral Commission will simply not countenance the use of a hopelessly misconceived general election campaign to further that vendetta. Any objection to Miah’s nomination as a candidate, on that basis, would be 100% certain to succeed.

The genesis of that vendetta is the Oldham MP’s exposure of grotesque safeguarding failings at two free schools that Miah founded and ran as chief executive. There are also many other operational failings identified (read in much more detail here) and the still burning question of the whereabouts of a sum approaching £3 million that was funnelled into companies and bank accounts controlled by ‘The Beggar’.

Does he really, and genuinely, think that the hundreds of children, who are now adults and old enough to vote, their parents, their teachers and other stakeholders, many of whose lives were irrevocably changed for the worse by this horrendous enterprise, will not attend public meetings or hustings and loudly demand answers from a man who can, on all recent evidence, only operate in a heavily curated Rabble-occupied echo chamber?

Likewise, those that Raja Miah smears on an almost daily basis with his ludicrous Asian cartels narrative, peppered with violent fantasies involving assassins, mobsters, gangsters, goons, armed robbers and gang rapists will demand answers and evidence in public gatherings or via the media. Evidence that The Beggar has studiously avoided providing, despite hundreds of requests. As a credible Parliamentary candidate that option to avoid answering voters’ questions is not available.

Does he also believe that the local and regional media will not seriously question his record over the past five years as a failed, disgraced conspiracy theorist whom eventually falls out with just about everyone he meets, unless they are crossing his palm with silver? Politics is about is about forming alliances and partnerships where they can benefit constituents or the locality they serve.

The reality is that no-one sensible, or with public service as their creed or any sense of ethics or morality, would go near someone so toxic and volatile – and the fifty or so supporters he can garner in Oldham West and Royton will leave him near enough 25,000 votes short of being elected as an MP.

But, clearly, being a Parliamentary candidate was never what this latest debacle was about: The leeching of yet more lumps of money from The Rabble was its primary target, a cloak for continuing his vendetta against Jim McMahon running a close second. It is right, therefore that the sitting MP has the last words:

“The candidacy [of Raja Miah] is simply a continuation of harassment he has waged for the last five years, no doubt in the hope I’ll back away from pursuing the allegations surrounding him. I won’t. Too many decent people are due answers and justice”.

Adding, on the subject of election expenses: “At the very least, candidates must submit spending returns and ensure donations are in order. Will make interesting reading if he does stand, not least of all for his remaining supporters”.

The smart money in Oldham, for now, is on the pendulum swinging back again to ‘The Beggar’ NOT standing for election as an MP. Aided, one hopes, by this exposé. Follow Neil Wilby on Twitter (here) and Neil Wilby Media on Facebook (here) for signposts to any updates to this article.

Raja Miah is offered right of reply via this weblink.

Page last updated: Saturday 29th July, 2023 at 18h45

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Picture credit: Oldham Council

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