LABOUR INTRIGUE: HOW MOSQUITO WAS SWATTED ASIDE

29-05-2008

Word reaches The Stirrer of the curious manner in which Labour parliamentary hopeful Yvonne Mosquito lost her position as Vice Chair of the West Midlands Police Authority – robbing it of its only black woman.

Mosquito was beaten in a vote of fellow councillors by Mohammed Afzal, but party insiders are asking questions about the manner of her defeat.

One story doing the rounds is that Shard End councillor Marj Bridle was entered into the contest without her knowledge two days after the deadline for submissions – but then withdrew when she found out about it.

The theory runs that it would look better for Afzal and his friends in the party hierarchy if other councillors were seen to be up for the job.

(We’ve checked this with Marj who says it isn’t true – she tells us she expressed a vague interest in the policing job, but then pulled out, of her own accord, because there were other roles that attracted her more.)

The gossip then runs that the vote for the Police Authority role was further muddied by “breakout” discussions about the chairmanship of the district parties which was going on at the same time.

Amid the confusion, there was apparently only one teller for the poll – Mahmood Ahmed, the father of Shabana Ahmed, who is Mosquito’s chief rival for Labour’s Ladyood parliamentary nomination.

Two separate sources have backed up this story.

There's no suggestion that Mahmood Ahmed was responsible for any wrongdoing or that he failed to behave in accordance with anything other than the highest standards of probity.

But given his links to one of Mosquito’s main rivals, Labour sources suggest it was “very very silly” for Labour to allow this situation to arise.

If nothing else, the rumour mill is evidence of the continued disquiet about Labour’s Police Authority nomination – and ongoing dissatisfaction in some quarters with the local leadership.

It also underlines the feeling that Shabana Mahmood is the preferred choice of the party hierarchy for the Ladywood nomination.

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