FORMER Labour candidate Fazia Shaheen has resigned from the party over the “cruel and devastating” decision to block her from being able to stand in the upcoming General Election.
Shaheen announced the news with a statement posted on Twitter/X, stating that it is “with heavy heart” she has come to the decision.
In her statement, she said she has encountered relentless unfair treatment from the Labour Party, including bullying and Islamophobia.
Shaheen had been expected to win the Chingford and Woodford Green seat for Labour from former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, after losing out by just 2.6% of the vote in 2019.
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However, she said on Wednesday evening that she had been blocked from standing in the seat again by Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
She has now taken the decision to leave the party after her deselection as a candidate for the Chingford and Woodford Green seat.
The post read: “Since the Conservatives won power in 2010, I have used all the tools available to me – from my research to my activism – to fight them on public spending cuts, inequality and divisive narratives.
“That is why to leave the Labour Party now, on the cusp of finally seeing the Tories out of government at and a time when I should be celebrating, is crushing.”
Shaheen went on to say: “Being removed as a candidate has been cruel and devastating, especially after local voters and party members have placed so much faith in me.”
Then later added: “I cannot, in all conscience, continue to contribute to a party that seems to think so little of people like me and has moved so far away from my values.”
She has already said she is considering running as an independent in the constituency and that she will make a further announcement about her next steps tomorrow.
The professor at the London School of Economics International Inequalities Institute's resignation follows the news last week when she said she would be taking legal action against Labour over her deselection.
The Labour Party banned her from being a candidate due to “liking” a series of social media posts on Twitter/X that allegedly downplayed antisemitism accusations.
Last Thursday Shaheen said: “This campaign of prejudice, bullying and spiteful behaviour has finally been rewarded by Labour’s NEC and my name has been added to the list of those not welcome in the candidate club. And it is no surprise that many of those excluded are people of colour.”
She added: “I have come to the inescapable conclusion that Labour, far from being a broad church encompassing different views, has an ingrained culture of bullying, a palpable problem with black and brown people, and thinks nothing of dragging a person’s good name through the mud in pursuit of a factional agenda, with no thought of the impact on committed members’ mental health and wellbeing.”
Shaheen had also appeared on Newsnight just an hour or so after hearing her candidacy had been blocked.
At the time she expressed she was in a “state of shock” and had offered an apology to her supporters.
She also said she did not remember "liking" the post in question.
The Labour Party have been approached for comment.
I’ve resigned from the Labour Party. pic.twitter.com/v80TNPm5IH
— Faiza Shaheen (@faizashaheen) June 4, 2024
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