A long-serving Nottingham councillor who was expelled from Labour almost a month before local elections says he will be taking legal action against the party. Councillor Hassan Ahmed, who was first elected as a Labour councillor for St Ann's on Nottingham City Council in 1987, was thrown out of the party on March 22.
Neither Labour or Councillor Ahmed have disclosed the reason for the expulsion. Councillor Ahmed says he is being advised by lawyers on how much to publicly disclose, whilst Labour says it is not routine practice for it to share this information.
But Councillor Ahmed has confirmed that he will be taking legal action against the Labour Party over its decision. He said: "It's public knowledge that I was expelled by the Labour Party, after over 40 years of Labour Party membership, on completely unfair and unfounded grounds. I am currently seeking legal advice to challenge that decision.
"The expulsion decision was made at the national level. I think the decision is unfair on the constituents in Radford who elected me to represent them in the city. Also, it's unfair to the local branch of the Labour Party in Radford, who selected me to stand for the party in May at a meeting last November."
Councillor Ahmed said he will not be standing as an independent candidate in the May 4 elections. It is understood that the Local Government Committee have selected a Labour candidate for the Radford Ward.
Candidates for the upcoming elections have until 4pm on Tuesday (April 4) to submit their nomination papers, with the full list of those standing set to be released the following day. Councillor Ahmed was also expelled by the Labour Party in 1995 over allegations of him breaking rules at a candidates selection meeting.
Nottingham County Court eventually ruled in 1997 that he should be reinstated as a member, declaring Labour's previous decision void and ordering the party to pay Councillor Ahmed's court costs. Councillor Ahmed has served three terms on Nottingham City Council, firstly between 1987 and 1992 in St Ann's, followed by a period between 2007 and 2011 in Berridge and his current term since 2019 in Radford.
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