Rohit K. Dasgupta

Dasgupta gained a BA degree in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University, India, then graduated MA in English literature from the University of Westminster, PGCE from the University of West London, and PhD from the University of the Arts.[8]

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.[9][10][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.[19][20] He has previously expressed his opposition to Brexit and support for a second referendum.[21]

Dasgupta is Senior Lecturer and Programme Director in Global Communication and Development at Loughborough University. He has previously worked at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton; University of the Arts London and University of Sussex . Dasgupta has authored and edited nine books on media and digital culture, sexuality, gender, sexual health, anthropology and activism.[22] He has also written for The Independent on LGBTQ rights movement in the United Kingdom[23] and for the Huffington Post on Brexit.[24][25] He was recently involved in strike action due to the UCU pension dispute.[26]