A London councillor has allegedly pocketed £20,000 of taxpayers’ cash while campaigning for an election in Bangladesh. Sabina Khan has come under pressure to resign after it emerged she was seeking political office in the south Asian country, which is over 5,000 miles away from the UK.
Ms Khan’s salary is reportedly made up of £11,898 paid to her as a councillor and £8,702 for her role as scrutiny lead for resources at Tower Hamlets Council in east London. A councillor who switched allegiance from Labour to the Aspire Party, Ms Khan is standing for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in the Galopgonj division.
The local authority is led by Aspire, which is spearheaded by Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman. He received a five year ban from holding public office after being found guilty of corrupt and fraudulent practices by a court in 2015, allegations which he denied.
Social media posts appeared to show Ms Khan campaigning in the Bangladeshi city of Sylhet in January, according to the Telegraph.
Council records show Ms Khan was at a meeting on January 21, but wasn’t at a number of committee meetings in person.
Despite it not being grounds for disqualification from being a councillor, running for office overseas has sparked pressure on Ms Khan to relinquish her scrutiny role.
Peter Golds, a Conservative councillor at Tower Hamlets, said on social media: “This is shameful, not least because other members are picking up casework from this absentee member.
“In addition she can hardly lead on Scrutiny 5,000 miles away from the borough. Deselected by the Labour Party in Brent, why did Tower Hamlets Labour pick her as a candidate in 2022?”
A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Labour Party said the people of the borough deserve better, adding: “They are paying her to campaign for office in a different country whilst she is meant to be undertaking a serious role in scrutinising how this council looks after its finances.”
A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council said “relevant councillors” were informed by the local authority’s monitoring officer that seeking political office in other countries while serving as councillors was unacceptable and councillors must focus solely on the residents they represent and on the roles they undertake in the council.
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They added: “Councillor Khan has assured the Aspire Group whip that she remains committed to her constituents and her duties to the council.
