The Labour councillor who parked his £208,000 Lamborghini in a disabled bay without a blue badge twice has apologised – but avoided any fine.
Farhaan Rehman, the Labour councillor for Hounslow Heath in West London, owns a light blue Lamborghini Urus SE SUV which was pictured on two occasions parked in a disabled parking spot at Hounslow House civic centre.
The usual fine issued to a member of the public caught parking in a disabled bay without a badge is a fixed penalty notice of £160 – but Mr Rehman was not fined as the car park is privately owned by Hounslow Council.
Councillor Rehman has said that, instead, he will donate £160 to charity, as other councillors have called for his resignation.
He also stepped down from his role as chairman of the council’s Licensing and General Purposes Committee, meaning he will lose the £9,424 top up to his annual councillor allowance but keep the basic payment of £12,730.
Mr Rehman does, however, remain a Labour representative for Hounslow Heath and will still be a candidate for Hounslow Labour at the 2026 elections – something that has angered Conservative councillors who have called Mr Rehman’s disregard for the rules an ‘appalling double standard’.
Jack Emsley, the Conservative councillor for Chiswick Homefields, said: ‘He’s been caught twice now parking in a disabled bay in a Lamborghini no less – it beggars belief.
‘At the moment, it’s one rule for them and another rule for everybody else. But I think more fundamentally, they’re standing on a manifesto that claims that they’re cracking down on these kinds of finable offences.’
‘He should absolutely be deselected, and he should really have the whip removed from the Labour group,’ he added.
The Labour Group said it has accepted Mr Rehman’s apology and resignation. They added that they have given the councillor formal advice on his future conduct and reminded him of the ‘high standards expected of a Labour councillor’.
A Labour Party spokesman told the Telegraph: ‘The Hounslow Labour Group considers the actions taken by Councillor Farhaan Rehman to be unacceptable.
‘Councillor Rehman has acknowledged this without qualification and has taken a series of steps to address his conduct.
‘The Hounslow Labour Group expects the highest standards from all elected members.
‘Councillor Rehman has accepted full responsibility and acted promptly in response to this incident.’
Mr Rehman’s father is also the General Secretary of a Hounslow mosque which is one of the largest in the UK and which is currently under investigation by the Charity Commission.
Earlier this month, a single mother was fined £1,000 for ‘fly-tipping’ an envelope next to some boxes when her council bins were full.
Loretta Alvarez, 26, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that if Councillor Rehman had indeed parked in the bays himself without a blue badge, it would make her feel as though elected officials conduct themselves differently to how ordinary members of the public are expected to act.
‘It [would make] you think, there clearly is a hierarchy, he thinks he can get away with it, and probably can because he’s a councillor.
‘But me, a normal person, getting on, paying my bills, I’d have to pay that,’ Ms Alvarez said.
Loretta Alvarez had placed the cardboard envelope on top of some boxes by the communal bins outside her flat in Feltham, west London, which are shared by 25 other households.
The mother-of-two assumed council workers would take the rubbish when they came to collect the waste, but was shocked to receive a penalty notice from Hounslow Council and was threatened with legal action if she did not pay.
Labour councillor Rehman’s father, Shafiq Reham, is the General Secretary of Hounslow Jamia Masijd and Islamic Centre Mosque, one of the largest in the UK.
The mosque is also being investigated by the Charity Commission over concerns about its governance and regulatory compliance.
Worshippers and former staff at the mosque put their allegations to the government watchdog, the Sun reported last month, with concerns including ‘unaccounted for’ charitable funds and contracts allegedly being awarded to associates of the leadership team.
Probes were also launched by Hounslow Council and the Labour Party into individuals alleged to have a ‘stranglehold’ over the community.
