Elaheh Rastgou

Elaheh Rastgou (Persian: الهه راستگو, lit. 'The Veracious Goddess') is an Iranian conservative-minded^[4] reformist^[5][6] politician who was formerly a member of City Council of Tehran and a Member of Parliament.

Elaheh Rastgou
Member of City Council of Tehran
In office 3 September 2013 – 22 August 2017
Majority	179,982 (8.02%)[1]
Member of the Parliament of Iran
In office 7 February 1997[2] – 26 May 2000
Constituency	Malayer
Majority	112,396 (44.6%)[3]
Personal details
Born	1962 (age 62–63)[3] Malayer, Hamadan Province, Imperial State of Iran[3]
Political party	Independent (since 2013)
Other political affiliations	Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces Islamic Labour Party (pre 2013) Freethinkers' Pinnacle Party
Alma mater	Allameh Tabataba'i University

Career

Rastgou entered Islamic Consultative Assembly's 5th term in Malayer's 1997 by-election, defeating the incumbent Hassan Zamanifar. She was a sympathizer of Executives of Construction fraction at the time.^[7] In 2000 elections, she ran for a seat in Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr as Freethinkers' Pinnacle Party's candidate and was defeated.^[8][7] Backed by reformist 'Coalition For Iran',^[4] she was defeated in 2004 from the same district. In 2008 parliamentary elections, she lost again while listed in both Islamic Iran Participation Front and National Trust Party endorsing lists.^[9]

She lost 2003 and 2006 elections of City Council of Tehran, but eventually won a seat in 2013 while being supported by reformists coalition.

2013 allegiance switch

A sudden switch of allegiance by Rastgou, reformist-backed member of the Tehran City Council, helped Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to retain his seat by a vote margin of one.^[6] Following the vote, she was 'fired' from Islamic Labour Party because allegedly 'breaking her oath to vote for the reformist mayor'.^[10]

In 2017, she officially joined the conservative alliance Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces.^[11]

Electoral history

Year	Election	Votes	%	Rank	Notes
1996	Parliament By-election	112,396	44.6	1st	Won[7]
2000	Parliament	No Data Available			Lost[7]
2003	City Council of Tehran	19,015	3.61	41st	Lost[12]
2004	Parliament	74,111	3.76	38th	Lost[13]
2006	City Council of Tehran	No Data Available			Lost[14]
2008	Parliament Round 1	228,571	13.12	37th	Went to Round 2[15]
	Parliament Round 2	191,097	28.47	16th	Lost[16]
2012	Parliament	90,003	4.24	64th	Lost[17]
2013	City Council of Tehran	179,982	8.02	10th	Won[18]
2017	City Council of Tehran	444,635	N/A	27th	Lost[19]