FAIZA Shaheen has announced she will run against Labour as an independent after Keir Starmer’s party blocked her from being their candidate.
Shaheen had been bidding to run for Labour in Chingford and Woodford Green, an area where she narrowly lost to Tory incumbent Iain Duncan Smith in the 2019 General Election.
However, the party blocked her from standing, citing social media activity including “liking” a video skit about the “Israel lobby” from Jewish American comedian Jon Stewart, and “describing [her] experiences of Islamophobia” within Labour.
After blocking Shaheen, Labour instead selected Shama Tatler, a councillor in the London borough of Brent, to run against Duncan Smith.
Shaheen hit out at the decision to replace her with Tatler, claiming the party would “rather lose than have a left pro-Palestine candidate”.
On Tuesday, she confirmed she had resigned from the Labour Party, citing "a relentless campaign of unfair treatment, bullying and hostility that I have never before experienced in all my personal or professional life".
On Wednesday, Shaheen said she would run as an independent, claiming that “many local people think Labour has handed a winnable seat to the Conservatives for another five years”.
Announcing her run for parliament, Shaheen, an academic with a focus on inequalities who works as a visiting professor of practice at the London School of Economics (LSE), said: “I have reached this decision following hundreds of messages from people in my community, who say there are no options left for them.
I am standing as an independent candidate for Chingford & Woodford Green at the General Election on 4 July. For more info: https://t.co/JNQ62RjmrX Sign up to volunteer: https://t.co/2t6uTsMJLh Let's do this! pic.twitter.com/2kZilbGlGY
— Faiza Shaheen (@faizashaheen) June 5, 2024
“They are tired of the Tories but now feel they can’t trust Labour.
“They feel disenfranchised by Labour’s decision to remove me and feel it would be impossible for the party to win here without a local candidate, rooted in the community, and that such a voice is vitally needed.
“I am standing here to win, to beat the Conservatives, to finish what we started. I am standing to give a voice to my community – the community that made me and has put their faith in me.”
Shaheen added: “I aim to show that there is a progressive alternative to both parties that puts Chingford and Woodford Green first.”
On Wednesday, Tatler was joined on the campaign in Chingford and Woodford Green by Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting.
Tatler had previously pledged to stand up “against the forces of hatred and antisemitism” after grafitti saying “Israel lobby out” and “UK MPs work for UK not Israel” was sprayed on Labour’s local offices in the area.
