Lib Dem suspended after campaigning for poll rival
AFORMER Labour councillor who hoped to return as a Lib Dem has been suspended from the party after claims he was ‘campaigning for George Galloway’ ahead of the Rochdale by-election next week.
Farooq Ahmed, who applied to be a Lib Dem candidate for Rochdale council at the local elections in May, has denied the claims, saying he ‘just bumped into’ Mr Galloway’s campaigners and ‘took a selfie’.
Mr Ahmed was a Labour councillor for the Central Rochdale ward until 2014 when he resigned from the party after he was fined for hurling homophobic abuse at a colleague.
He denied the allegation but quit the party due to a ‘lack of support’ after he was convicted of a public order offence and served the rest of his term as an independent, alongside his wife who had also been a Labour councillor.
The Manchester Evening News understands Mr Ahmed applied to be a Lib Dem candidate in his former Rochdale council ward. He was pictured with campaigners for Mr Galloway who is standing in next week’s by-election to choose the town’s MP.
It comes just a week after Mr Ahmed was pictured with the Lib Dem by-election candidate Iain Donaldson holding a campaign banner.
Mr Ahmed has denied campaigning for Mr Galloway, saying, ‘[they] just bumped into each other and [they] took a selfie’. He claims he was not holding one of Mr Galloway’s election leaflets which appears in the picture the
Observer understands was sent in to the party.
The Lib Dems have confirmed that Mr Ahmed has been suspended for campaigning for another party. “He was suspended for campaigning for another party,” a spokesperson said. “We are deeply shocked that instead he was campaigning for someone that goes against all our values.”
However, speaking to the Observer on Tuesday morning (February 20), Mr Ahmed said that he has still not been informed of his suspension by the local or national party.
He said: “I’m campaigning for the Lib Dems in the area. We just bumped into each other and we took a selfie. I’m not holding a leaflet.
“I’m not a candidate, I’m a local activist for the Lib Dems. I’ve had no emails, no correspondence from the local Lib
Dems or national [party]. The first I heard [of it] was through the media. Yesterday, when I found out at 7pm I thought it was a joke or fake news.
“I don’t believe in individual political parties when it comes to local elections. As a community worker for many, many
years, I don’t see any political party because it’s all about Rochdale and what’s best for the town.
“All parties locally should be independent of the national party.”
The Observer understands that although Mr Ahmed applied to be a Lib Dem candidate, his application
had not yet been approved. A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: “He has been suspended from the party and was never an approved council candidate.”
The Rochdale by-election was triggered by the death of Sir Tony Lloyd last month.