Councillors lash out at Labour
LABOUR has been criticised for its handling of the deselection of a number of Leicester City councillors – a majority of whom are from a black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) background, writes Sam Moorhouse.
Nineteen sitting councillors were told they cannot stand as a Labour candidate in the coming May election, after party heads decided to take the decision out of the hands of local members and placed the national executive committee (NEC) in charge.
But both deselected councillors and their constituents are questioning the party’s motivations after it was revealed that a majority of those deselected are from a minority background. Fifteen out of the 26 BAME Labour city councillors have been removed from their positions, compared with just four of the 22 white Labour councillors.
Labour sources stressed the recently selected candidates are representative of all communities in Leicester and the changes will increase BAME representation and the number of female candidates.
Councillor Ruma Ali, from Humberstone and Hamilton, now stands as an independent candidate after being deselected by the NEC. She has immediately resigned from the party.
Ali said, “When it comes to black minorities, ethnic communities and what we need and what we want, we will struggle to help. These councillors are hard working and do so much for the areas they represent. Constituents I have spoken to and have messaged me on social media are utterly outraged.
“Labour cannot now guarantee that they are going to win these seats … and the communities are now so stressed, angry and upset and I don’t think they will vote Labour again. I resigned because I believe the party is racist and this was nothing to do with who is a good or bad councillor.”
Ali also claimed she was promised by the city mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, that she would be reselected as a candidate if she supported him during the vote to scrap his office. This is something he strenuously denied.
Sir Peter told LeicestershireLive: “That is absolutely bizarre, it really is. The selection was undertaken by people who were entirely impartial in the way in which they approached it and, certainly not was I in a position, nor did I, promise anybody a selection or deselection.
“I had no part in it whatsoever and that was made very clear to the candidates. It was an impartial process.”
Councillor Sharmen Rahman was also deselected in the recent cuts and said the decision has left her constituents feeling angry and disappointed.
“I represent a ward that is around 70 per cent ethnic minority, and to know that my community is more likely to be left voiceless than other communities is a hurtful thing,” Rahman said.