Labor deputy mayor's allegation of harassment 'hushed up' before election

Allegations of persecution of Shakeel Ahmed allegedly covered up by Labor ahead of Rochdale mayoral election

Rochdale is home to a key fringe electorate, Heywood and Mi ddlton , who switched to the Conservatives in 2019 and is now on Labor's target list.

In addition to the complaint against Mr Ahmed, The Telegraph has been told by two sources of a separate sexual harassment allegation against another adviser, which is being investigated by Greater Manchester Police .

Insiders in the Labor group expressed outrage at the decision of Neil Emmott, Labor's leader on the council, to decide on Mr Ahmed's promotion.

The Telegraph saw a letter to Mr Emmott signed by numerous members of the Labor Council. before the AGM on May 17th, begging him not to put them in a position to vote for someone against whom there is an outstanding harassment complaint.

“This sends a terrible message when it comes to our support for victims, especially women and girls, all over the world,” it says.

“Rochdale Labor Group must show that it takes all allegations seriously.”

They added: «We cannot allow the personal ambitions of one person to damage the reputation of the entire Labor Group.»

The appeal fell on deaf ears, leading to a partial boycott of the normally attended AGM.

The Manchester Evening News reported live from the meeting that: «There are several apologies for being absent tonight, prominently from the Labor Group», noting that the room felt «unusually cramped».

However, among those who did attend, there was a unanimous show of hands in favor of Mr. Ahmed, so no vote against was announced.

Sources within the group said the junior female officer on the board of the first unofficially made complaints about Mr. Ahmed's alleged misconduct in February before filing a formal complaint the following month.

«The investigation was dropped due to the election because the leadership didn't want anything to come to light» , one of them said.< /p>

«They were worried about a challenge from the Middleton Independence Party and didn't want to rock the boat.

«That poor woman should have watched this man [Mr Ahmed] become deputy mayor.»

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Mr. Ahmed was born in Kashmir and raised in the UK. He attended primary school in Coventry before moving to Rochdale in 1984, according to the council's website.

Mr Emmott himself is familiar with the controversy. Two years ago, he was forced to apologize for an «inappropriate verbal attack» against two board members during a seminar.

“Sometimes I can get frustrated and upset,” he said at the time.

“Behaviour must be impeccable.”

One anonymous adviser reportedly drew a parallel between the Ahmed situation and the Chris Pincher scandal at Westminster. last year, when Boris Johnson appointed Pincher as chief whip, aware of the misconduct allegations against him, which ultimately led to his downfall.

Andy Kelling, who leads the Liberal Democrats group, said: «The public should expect a decent standard of conduct from elected members who serve the public.

“If you are trustworthy, your conduct must be impeccable.”

Mr. Ahmed declined an invitation to comment, as did Mr. Emmott.

However, a spokesman for the Rochdale City Council said: «Following an assessment of the complaint, an investigation is currently underway to be reviewed through the council's standards process.

«No further comment, until the investigation is completed».