# Rohit K. Dasgupta

Rohit K. Dasgupta FRAS, FHEA is an Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality at the London School of Economics and Political Science and a British Labour Party politician. Prior to this he was a Senior Lecturer in the School of Culture and Creative Arts at the University of Glasgow where he remains as an Honorary Senior Research Fellow. In 2018 he was elected Councillor in the London Borough of Newham for the Canning Town South Ward. He was re-elected for the same ward again in 2022 He contested the Parliamentary seat of East Hampshire for the Labour Party in 2017, coming second with an increase of 7% vote share. He is also Secretary of the Newham Branch of the Fabian Society. In 2019 he was selected as an MEP candidate for the South East region (5th on the list) but failed to get elected. Dasgupta is also a member of Labour's National Policy Forum and sits on the Work, Pensions and Equality Policy Commission.

## 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.

## 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. Following his election he was appointed Commissioner for Social Integration and Equalities in 2019. He was re-elected for the same ward in 2022 and appointed Deputy Cabinet Member for Social Justice, Equalities and Culture by the Mayor. He had previously contested the East Hampshire parliamentary seat in the General election, coming second with 17% of the vote share. Dasgupta is also the Chair of his local Labour party branch and Secretary of the Newham Fabian Society. He was one of the first Bengalis from West Bengal, India to contest the British Parliamentary elections. 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. In 2019 he was selected as an MEP candidate for the South East region but failed to get elected. He has previously expressed his opposition to Brexit and support for a second referendum.

## Academic career

Dasgupta is an Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this he was a Senior Lecturer in Cultural Industries at the University of Glasgow. He has previously worked at the Institute for Media and Creative Industries at Loughborough University (where he remains as a Visiting Fellow), Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton; University of the Arts London and University of Sussex . During 2024 he was a Visiting Faculty at the Centre for Advanced Research in Global Communication, University of Pennsylvania. Dasgupta has authored and edited several books on media and digital culture, cinema, sexuality, gender, sexual health, anthropology and activism. He has also written for outlets such The Independent, The Conversation, Tribune Magazine, Left Foot Forward, Labour List and the Huffington Post. He has been involved in strike action against pension cuts, organising against homophobia and supporting inclusive relationship and sex education.

## Electoral history
### 2017 general election

General Election 2017: East Hampshire :
| Party | 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 |
| | JAC | Susan Jerrard | 571 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 25,852 | 46.6 | −2.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 55,567 | 75.6 | +4.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | 1.95 | |

### 2018 local election

Canning Town South (3) :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Labour | Alan Griffiths | 1,991 | 23 |
| Labour | Rohit Dasgupta | 1,965 | 22 |
| Labour | Belgica Guana | 1,693 | 19 |
| Conservative | Marc Pooler | 643 | 7 |
| Conservative | Mark Seymour | 559 | 6 |
| Liberal Democrats | Caroline Carey | 552 | 6 |
| Green | Danny Keeling | 464 | 5 |
| Conservative | Mahyar Tousi | 378 | 4 |
| CPA | Myrtle Laing | 222 | 3 |
| CPA | Sharmila Swarna | 145 | 2 |
| CPA | Prossy Namwanje | 144 | 2 |
| Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
| Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
| Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |

### 2019 European Parliament election

| Date of election | Region | | Party | Votes | Percentage of votes | Result |
| 2019 European election | South East England | John Howarth(10), Cathy Shutt, Arran Richard Neathey, Emma Christina Turnbull, Rohit K. Dasgupta, Amy Lauren Fowler, Duncan Shaw Thomas Enright, Lubna Aiysha Arshad, Simon Guy Burgess, Rachael Eowyn Ward | | Labour | 184,678 | 7.27 | Not Elected |

### 2022 local election

Canning Town South (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Rohit Kumar Dasgupta | 630 |
| | Labour | Alan Griffiths | 585 |
| | Labour | Belgica Guana | 536 |
| | Independent | Carel Jane Buxton | 187 |
| | Green | Oliver Reynolds | 185 |
| | Green | Deb Scott | 161 |
| | Independent | Darshi Wijesinghe | 155 |
| | Conservative | Tim Gamble | 144 |
| | Conservative | Marc James Pooler | 122 |
| | Green | Benjamin Ian Smith | 106 |
| | Conservative | Rachel Nabudde | 103 |
| | CPA | Myrtle Verona Laing | 74 |
| | CPA | Sharmila Sundar Swarna | 54 |
| | CPA | Prossy Namwanje | 50 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

## Writing
### Books

* (with Gokulsing, K.M., eds) (2014) Masculinity and its Challenges in India: Essays on Changing Perceptions Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland and Co
* (with Datta, S. and Bakshi, K., eds) (2016) Rituparno Ghosh: Cinema, Gender and Art, New Delhi, New York & London: Taylor & Francis: Routledge
* (2017) Digital Queer Cultures in India: Politics, Intimacies and Belonging, New Delhi, New York & London: Taylor & Francis: Routledge
* (with Dhall, P. ) (2017) Social Media, Sexuality and Sexual Health Advocacy in Kolkata, India, New Delhi & London: Bloomsbury
* (with Banerjie, N., Dasgupta, D., and Grant, J., eds) (2017) Friendship as Social Justice Activism: Critical Solidarities in a Global Perspective, Kolkata/London: Seagull Books and Chicago: University of Chicago Press
* (with Dasgupta, D., eds) (2017) Queering Digital India: Activisms, Identities, Subjectivities, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
* (with Begum, and L. Lewis., eds) (2018), Styling South Asian Youth Cultures: Fashion, Media and Society, London: Bloomsbury
* (with Datta, S) (2019) 100 Essential Indian Films, Lanham, MD and London: Rowman and Littlefield
* (with Bakshi, K) (2019) Queer Studies: Texts, Contexts, Praxis, Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan
* (with Banerjie, N and Boyce, P) (2022) COVID-19 Assemblages: Queer and Feminist Ethnographies from South Asia, London: Routledge
* (with Jordan, J, Hitchen, G. et al) (2023) Mapping Innovation in India’s Creative Industries: Policy, Context and Opportunities, London: Routledge
* (with Biswas, S and Mahn, C) (2024) Queer Politics in Times of New Authoritarianisms: Popular Culture in South Asia, London: Routledge
* (with Clini, C) (2024) The Cultural Industries of India, London: Routledge
* (with Ghosh, A and Shringarpure, B) (2024) India’s Imperial Formations: Cultural Perspectives, Teaneck, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
* (with Mahn, C and DJ Ritu) (2025) Desi Queers: LGBTQ+ South Asians and Cultural Belonging in Britain, London: Hurst Publishers