Ex Labour councillor's parting shot at local party's 'failures'

HASSAN AHMED HAS JOINED BREAKAWAY GROUP TO CHALLENGE AS OFFICIAL OPPOSITION

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

A FORMER Nottingham Labour city councillor who was suspended by the party three times during his career has now left of his own accord and branded the city council's leadership “incompetent”.

Hassan Ahmed, who became a prominent political figure in the city under the leadership of Jon Collins, previously described his “relief” after winning a legal challenge over the Labour Party's decision to throw him out just before the 2023 local elections.

Mr Ahmed and other ex-Labour city councillors have now quit the party to support the new Nottingham People’s Alliance. The breakaway group, announced on October 30, is formed of six current councillors who have left Nottingham Labour to become the official opposition on the council.

An open letter signed by Mr Ahmed and two other ex-Labour city councillors - Azad Chaudhry and Jawaid Khalil - accused Labour of having drifted to the right under Keir Starmer “to follow Donald Trump and compete with Nigel Farage”.

At the local level, the letter says: “Labour administrations in recent years have shown a total lack of vision and leadership, incompetency, bad governance, lack of care for local people and communities, and brought financial chaos.

“The Labour Party has only been winning elections in Nottingham because of low turnout and lack of any proper challenge or campaign by other political parties.”