Only Labour councillor to vote against budget cuts quits party and issues fresh warning

A former Sheriff of Nottingham has resigned from the Labour Party after being sanctioned earlier this year for voting against what she describes as “devastating” cuts to the city’s most vulnerable residents. Cllr Shuguftah Quddoos, who represents Berridge ward, was suspended from the party having defied orders at a marathon seven-hour budget meeting on March 4.

During the meeting the budget was reluctantly approved, with some Labour councillors stating they had been forced to pass it “under duress”. They had been warned they had a legal duty to set a balanced budget, meaning it was approved despite overwhelming discontent.

Cllr Quddoos was the only councillor to go against party orders to vote the budget through. As she announced her resigination, she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) she had been inspired by the Poplar Rates Rebellion in East London in 1921.

Thirty Labour councillors had defied the government, their party and even served time in prison for contempt of court after refusing a court order to collect higher taxes on the borough’s poorer residents. Their stand-off ultimately led to the passing of a bill to better equalise tax burdens between the rich and poor.

However, Cllr Quddoos said she was left “surprised” when she realised she would be the only councillor to rebel on the night. The budget plans for the current year included 550 job losses, a council tax rise of five per cent, and cuts to youth services.

Cllr Quddoos says she does not feel residents are being listened to, and is fearful of more devastating cuts in the next budget round. As a result she has decided to resign as of Thursday (November 28) to serve as a councillor independently.

“People before party has always been my political compass,” she said in her resignation letter. “That is why, back in March, I chose to vote against the devastating budget cuts being imposed on Nottingham. I was fully aware beforehand that I would be suspended from the Labour Party as a result.

“Now the budget for 2025 is being written. It is likely that the cuts in it will be just as damaging as the cuts made in 2024, if not more so. The people who will be most impacted by these cuts are going completely unheard. If I cannot speak up for them in the way they want me to without being sanctioned for it, I cannot remain in the party.”

Nottingham City Council, which is controlled by the Labour Party, will soon publish its budget for the financial year beginning April 2025. The authority, which declared effective bankruptcy towards the end of 2023, is facing a £69m gap, rising to a cumulative £172m over the next three years.

“I understand the pressures the council is under and that there are no easy answers,” Cllr Quddoos’ statement continues. “We’re lucky to have so many brilliant minds in Nottingham who want to be part of the solution, but the rapid pace of the cuts is getting in the way of real community partnerships.

“The kind of collaborations we need don’t happen overnight. A community centre can be sold overnight but once gone, it won’t come back. I will never be the type of politician who sits quietly by ‘with a heavy heart’ when essential services I once relied upon are taken away from others.

“The residents, foodbank volunteers, campaigners and small business owners I have spoken to in recent months feel alienated by the scale of the cuts and the way they are being handled. People want to see councillors truly stand with them, rejecting the idea that more austerity is the best thing for our people right now, and for future generations.

“In a city with significant deprivation that ranks amongst the highest in the country for child poverty, asking residents to endure greater hardship for less in return is simply not economically or socially sustainable. I intend to continue to work with campaigners, fellow councillors and others to save what public services we can.

“I welcome the reconsideration on library closures and hope to see a positive outcome. Ultimately, however, what Nottingham needs is a fundamental transformation in how local government is structured and funded. To fight for that, I must be able to speak freely – and I cannot do so in the Labour Party as it stands.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “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. We will continue to focus on this work as a team and get on with the task at hand for the people of our city, not be distracted by sniping from the sidelines.”