Labour deputy mayor elected despite harassment allegation
A LABOUR councillor in Greater Manchester was elected deputy mayor despite colleagues knowing of allegations that he had harassed a young woman.
The uncontested vote for Shakil Ahmed last month means he should automatically become the mayor and “first citizen” of Rochdale next year.
The result has provoked turmoil within the governing party, with fears that it sends a “terrible message” to women and victims of abuse, in a borough that has suffered notorious sexual abuse scandals in recent years.
Councillors have also accused the local leadership of pressuring civil servants to delay the start of a formal investigation into Mr Ahmed until after last month’s local elections.
Rochdale is home to a key marginal constituency, Heywood and Middleton, which swung to the Conservatives in 2019 and is now high on Labour’s target list.
In addition to the complaint against Mr Ahmed, The Sunday Telegraph has been told by two sources of a separate allegation of sexual harassment against another councillor, which is being investigated by Greater Manchester
Police. Insiders within the Labour group have expressed outrage at the decision-making of Neil Emmott, Labour leader on the council, in the promotion of Mr Ahmed.
The Telegraph has seen a letter to Mr Emmott signed by numerous Labour councillors ahead of the annual general meeting, begging him not to put them in the position of voting for someone against whom there was an outstanding complaint of harassment.
“This sends out a terrible message when it comes to our support for victims, especially women and girls, everywhere,” it reads. “Rochdale Labour Group needs to show that it takes all allegations seriously.”
They added: “We can’t allow the personal ambitions of one man to bring the entire Labour Group into disrepute.”
The plea went unheeded, prompting a partial boycott of the normally fully attended AGM.
The Manchester Evening News reported live from the meeting that: “There are several apologies for absence tonight, noticeably from the Labour group”, commenting that the room seemed “unusually sparse”.
However, among those who did attend, a show of hands in favour of Mr Ahmed as deputy mayor appeared unanimous, so no dissenting vote was called. Sources within the group said a junior female officer at the council voiced complaints about Mr Ahmed’s alleged misconduct in February, before making a formal complaint the following month.
“The investigation was kicked back because of the election because the leadership didn’t want anything to come out,” one claimed. “They were worried about a challenge from the Middleton Independence Party and didn’t want to rock the boat. This poor woman has had to watch this man [Mr Ahmed] become deputy mayor.”
Mr Ahmed was born in Kashmir and brought up in the UK, attending primary school in Coventry before moving to Rochdale in 1984, according to the council website.
Mr Emmott himself is no stranger to controversy. Two years ago he was forced to apologise for an “inappropriate verbal outburst” towards two council officers during a seminar.
“Sometimes I can get frustrated and upset,” he said at the time.
A Rochdale borough council spokesman said: “Following an assessment of a complaint, an investigation is under way and will be dealt with through the council’s standards process.”