A by-election is being held in the Leen Valley ward in the city after a former Labour councillor was removed for failing to attend enough meetings.
Nadia Farhat was first elected to the ward in the 2023 elections.
She had initially stood for Labour, but defected in October 2023 over former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s stance on the conflict in Gaza.
Nottingham City Council said the last qualifying meeting she attended was a meeting of Full Council on January 12. In a six-month period she failed to attend a qualifying meeting
She was issued a warning notice, which some on the authority said did not give her enough time to attend any relevant meetings, but was removed as a councillor on July 12.
The candidates who will stand for election on Thursday, August 20, are as follows:
- Parveen Begum, Nottingham People’s Alliance (address in Nottingham city)
- Stuart Andrew Frost, Reform UK (address in Nottingham city)
- Abbas Hussain, Labour (address in Nottingham city)
- Hugh McGuinness, Green Party (3 Newtondale Close, Nottingham)
- Liz Morgan-Danvers, Liberal Democrats (address in Nottingham city)
- Gail Janise Stancliffe, Conservative (address in Nottingham city)
Nadia Farhat was removed under current legislation.
Under Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972, it states that if a member of the council fails throughout a period of six consecutive months from the date of their last attendance to attend any meeting of the authority, without prior approval, they will cease to be a member of that authority.
According to the council, there will be “a small unbudgeted cost of running the by-election” of approximately £20,000.
However, the council says this will be partially offset by non-payment of Ms Farhat’s basic allowance.
By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
