Challenger cites ‘tale of two cities’ and divide between rich and poor
COUNCILLOR Waseem Zaffar – promoted by Cllr Ward to lead the transport and environment portfolio – is now pushing for the top spot after speaking to colleagues, and clearly believes he has the number of supporters needed to win.
His role at the forefront of the city’s Clean Air Zone, active travel plans and the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in Kings Heath and Lozells have made him the most prominent of the city’s cabinet team.
It has also made him a target of opponents of those initiatives. All were hot topics at the local elections which returned a Labour majority last week.
Cllr Zaffar, born and brought up in the Lozells neighbourhood in Birmingham, the area he represents, is also a non-executive at Sandwell and City hospital, a director of Birmingham Airport and the Westside BID, a school governor and a lifelong Villa fan.
His initial overture to Labour councillors highlighted his lifelong ‘love of the city’.
He outlined what he loves about Birmingham – from its super diversity to its industrial heritage, its status as a city of sanctuary to the joy of ‘walking to watch Villa with his eldest son’ – but he then sets out where he thinks the city is failing.
He said: “When I speak to young people from Kings Norton to Kingstanding, Alum
Rock to Lozells, they tell me we’re not offering them enough opportunity or inspiration. In this super-diverse triumph of a city, the one thing our young people agree on is the lack of hope.
“And that fills me with shame. Our job as councillors is to do something about it,” he wrote.
“We can argue about resources and government cuts, but the reality is that our taxpayers want to be proud of where they live. They’re right to expect better from Labour than dirty streets.”
He highlighted the fate of his taxi driver father, who died prematurely, aged just 54: “Every day I think about this. I think about the life expectancy of my constituents in Lozells compared to other people’s fathers in other parts of our city. It’s almost ten years more in some wards. And that’s not right.
“It’s a tale of two cities: a proud, pulsating, precious place
– but divided between rich and poor. Now it’s time for that to change.”
He is urging councillors to back him and be part of the team that makes that change happen, and outlines his priorities if he gets their backing. These include:
■ Deliver a weekly, reliable waste collection service. Devolve more power and resources to local communities, getting away from overly centralised decision making
■ Tackle the housing crisis by developing a ten year action plan, with partners, focussed on raising standards and building more ‘genuinely affordable’ and social rent housing.
■ Deliver a safer and greener city by transforming Birmingham to net zero
■ Ensure death with dignity by tackling a crisis of delays in coroner and mortuary services, with a new regional mortuary and courts facility, particularly to support Jewish and Muslim families forced to wait too long to bury their loved ones
Cllr Zaffar has been part of the leadership team moulded by Cllr Ward since 2018, and shared collective responsibility for its programme and priorities. He was one of the Labour group strategists at the recent elections.
He has built up a strong network of support across the city and sources say he particularly has the backing of “a majority” of the Labour Group’s councillors who share his Kashmiri heritage, but equally has made enemies and been involved in controversy.
In this super-diverse triumph of a city, the one thing our young people agree on is the lack of hope. Cllr Waseem Zaffar