Who is Mayor Bentham Rudgutter from Perdido Street Station and what is their importance?

Mayor Bentham Rudgutter is the mayor of New Crobuzon. He is described as a small-time, paranoiac dictator, who puts up with no opposition, and who utilizes his militia to wipe out those who dare to defy him. Rudgutter is a duplicitous, conniving politician who is very similar to the late Haitian dictator Francois (Pappa Doc) Duvalier.