Councillor Tahir Ali has been selected to run for candidacy in one of the local Birmingham constituencies. If successful, he will replace Roger Godsiff in Birmingham Hall Green.
Mr Ali currently holds the Nechells ward on Birmingham City Council. He first won his seat in 1999.
The councillor was chosen by a selection panel – consisting of, regional, national and local representatives. E was selected instead of the likes of fellow representatives such as Majid Mahmood, as well as Ibrahim Dogus and Katy Clark.
The ruling national executive committee (NEC) of the Labour Party, unselected incumbent Roger Godsiff when it refused to endorse him as a parliamentary candidate.
Godsiff had apparently been ‘triggered’ by local party members, who did not immediately reselect him, but the complete selection process requested was not finished before the general election was called.
Although the NEC re-selected all other triggered MPs as potential candidates, chief whip Nick Brown forwarded the case for not approving Godsiff, who earlier in 2019 backed, protests against LGBT-inclusive education.
In a posted tweet, Roger Godsiff stated his intention to stand as an Independent rep in the seat. He was elected in 2017 with a strong majority of approximately 34,000 votes, making Birmingham Hall Green is overall a Labour seat.
