Brent councillors who backed controversial Nablus twinning campaign join Greens

Four of the five Brent councillors welcomed into the Greens by leader Zack Polanski as part of a “surge” towards his party had already been deselected by Labour ahead of next year’s local elections, Jewish News has learned.

The five councillors—who backed the controversial campaign to twin the north-west London borough with the West Bank city of Nablus—were presented by Polanski as part of a “surge” in Green support at a press conference on Monday

However, Jewish News understands that four of the five—former cabinet member Harbi Farah, former whip Iman Ahmadi-Moghaddam, Tony Ethapemi, and Erica Gbajumo—had failed Labour’s candidate selection process.

The process had been toughened in response to widespread concerns about the national performance of the Labour Group.

Central to the controversy were repeated complaints about Brent Labour’s relationship with the borough’s Jewish community, and the highly contentious Nablus twinning proposal.

A source told Jewish News:”There were serious concerns about Brent Labour Group which were raised at the highest level of the party.

“Keir Starmer was also aware of the concerns raised by local Jewish groups in relation to the conduct of the council.

“In a selection proscess designed to improve the standard of councillors, four of the five councillors who have been announced as defectors had already been deselected.”

At a press conference on Monday, Green leader Zack Polanski celebrated the defections, declaring that his party’s “surge has just widened in London.”

Of the group, only Councillor Mary Mitchell is understood to have been approved by Labour to stand in next May’s elections, prior to her decision to defect.

Some local Labour sources said they were relieved by the departure of the councillors, who were closely associated with the divisive Nablus twinning initiative, which had been backed by the local Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Brent Council Leader Muhammed Butt has already faced criticism for failing to listen to the concern of the communal organisations.

Several local Jewish groups—including the rabbi of the largest synagogue in the borough—have led opposition to the twinning plan, citing rising antisemitism and concerns about its impact on Brent’s diverse population.

Polanski welcomed all five councillors to the Green Party, claiming their move “mirrors what we’re hearing across the country.”

He added: “What we’re witnessing in Brent mirrors what we’re hearing on doorsteps and in polls nationwide. Good Labour councillors can see Labour has abandoned any sense of progressive politics and is showing absolute cowardice in its doomed attempt to out-Reform Reform with the politics of division and scapegoating.

“In the elections in May, it is the Greens who will be taking the fight to Reform, and we show our intent today in Brent. This is just the start.”

In a supportive report the New Statesman claimed “the councillors announced their defection from Labour to the Greens this evening, in the biggest move between the two parties since the election of Zack Polanski earlier this year.”