Shuguftah Quddoos was the only councillor – out of 55, including 50 Labour – to vote against a budget of over £30 million cuts and charges in March, including the equivalent of over 550 job losses. She held the ceremonial ‘Sheriff of Nottingham’ post at the time.
Socialist Party member Gary Freeman spoke with Nottingham independent anti-cuts councillor Shuguftah, who resigned from the Labour Party on 28 November.
Gary Freeman: Why did you resign from the Labour Party?
Shuguftah Quddoos: I have been suspended by the Labour Party since voting against the budget in March.
I am concerned about the impact that the new government’s decision to remove the winter fuel payment will have for many older people, and its refusal to lift the two-child benefit cap on families. I am deeply concerned at their position on an international level, with the genocide taking place in Gaza, Lebanon, and Palestine.
I love this city. And in the last six months, campaign groups across the city have reached out to me, including from outside the ward.
People want a representative who represents them. This completely took me back, that my being the only councillor to vote against the budget would lead to me being the person people felt they could reach out to.
Gary: In your resignation statement, you mention that you were inspired by the Poplar Rebellion that appeared on the Save Our Services WhatsApp group.
Shuguftah: That’s what history is there for – to inspire us. The more I researched it, the more confident I became. Having shared the link with other councillors to consider a collective action here, I was deeply disappointed with the lack of interest.
Obviously, I will be voting against the cuts budget coming up. After I resigned, the Labour Party was quoted by the media as saying: “The new Labour leadership at Nottingham City Council is focused on taking the tough and responsible decisions to fix our local authority, and it is making progress.”
That is code for making cuts. I have always said: “I am not afraid of making tough decisions. I am afraid of making the wrong ones.”
Gary: You have been identified with Nottingham Save Our Services (SOS). You were on our campaign stall outside the last full council meeting, encouraging people to come to the stall and talking with them.
Shuguftah: Yes. I met you in January. It was icy and cold. I spoke at that meeting [the official launch of the campaign].
I was thinking about the situation in the Labour Party. I went to the follow-on meeting, and joined the campaign.
I seek to be an open-minded person, to really listen to what residents are saying, and what community groups are saying to me, as an elected representative.
I’ve had more solidarity from the Save Our Services Group than from anyone, than from the Labour Group. All those years, since being elected in 2019, support from the campaign has been touching from everyone.
I thought, even on the day, some others would vote against. I saw councillors going in. One councillor from The Meadows stood by a ‘Don’t close Meadows Library’ poster, and said: “I’m not going to tell you how I’m going to vote”.
I made the decision to vote against the budget, to be able to then look my residents and officers in the eyes, and be able to know that the I did the right thing to defend them. I needed to be able to sleep at night.
Despite pressures from other councillors, who claimed it would make no difference, my one vote, I then decided to present the petition against the cuts at the meeting.
I emailed the chief whip at 12.03pm, resigning. I was chucked off the scrutiny committee around 2.30pm.
The budget will go out to public consultation on 17 December for four weeks. This Labour leadership are of the view that we need to make tough financial decisions to balance the books.
The rapid pace of making these cuts is making local people feel alienated. They are looking for a budget consultation of four weeks over Christmas and New Year on millions of pounds of cuts.
Gary: Do you have anything else to add at the moment?
Shuguftah: I am a socialist. The party has always been second to the people that I represent.
I will fight and represent our residents. The Labour Party says that “there is no alternative”, which is code for cuts. I am looking to put forward an alternative budget.
If you told me a year ago that I would resign, I would have asked why.
At the last campaign stall, I was getting people to sign the petition. I received an email from the chief whip, who is a trade union member, saying: “You’ve also been seen on an SOS stall”, and he would like an explanation.
I’ve put out my statement, and as the journalist Joe Locker has reported: “If I cannot speak up without being sanctioned, I cannot remain”. I can now speak freely.
See “‘Sheriff of Nottingham’ opposes taking from the poor” And read about the lessons from Poplar, 100 years on – see ‘It’s better to break the law than break the poor’
