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Published : 12 Nov 2025, 04:00 AM
The UK’s Communities Secretary Steve Reed has said he is “appalled” that serving London councillors are campaigning to become MPs in Bangladesh while holding their posts in Tower Hamlets.
On Tuesday, the the Evening Standard reported that councillors Sabina Khan and Ohid Ahmed are standing as candidates for Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), even as they continue to serve in east London.
According to the British daily, Sabina was elected as a Labour councillor in Mile End in 2022 but defected to the borough’s ruling Aspire party last year. She has missed more than half of her council meetings this year due to being out of the country.
In a letter to Tower Hamlets Council, Reed said: “I am appalled that any councillor elected by local people to serve their interests would even consider abandoning that commitment to campaign in another country.
“That journey requires a dedicated and fully engaged political leadership to grip and deliver the necessary change. I would urge you to do all you can to stop this situation and remind all councillors in the borough that their focus needs to be on helping the people of Tower Hamlets.”
The Evening Standard added that Ohid, who represents Lansbury ward in Poplar, is also campaigning to become a BNP candidate.
On social media, he has posted about Bangladesh’s economy, women’s education, and the country’s road conditions.
Ohid was first elected as a Labour councillor in 2002 before joining Lutfur Rahman’s party, Tower Hamlets First, in 2014.
He later joined Aspire in 2022 but left last year to become an independent councillor. He has said he will not contest the local elections in 2026.
As per the Evening Standard, Tower Hamlets Council said the law “does not automatically disqualify” a person from being a councillor in the UK “solely because they are running for or hold an elected office in another country”.
Both Sabina and Ohid have indicated they will resign if elected in Bangladesh. Local elections are scheduled to take place in London in May next year.
“This behaviour is unacceptable. We are clear that councillors must be able to effectively serve the constituents who elected them. All councillors must uphold the Nolan principles, including integrity, objectivity, and accountability,” the British daily quoted a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as saying.
It added that the remarks come as the UK government announced tougher sanctions for rule-breaking councillors in a bid to “clean up local politics” and restore public confidence.
