Labour’s candidate for Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Cllr Sirajul Islam, has written to Green Party leader Zack Polanski raising serious concerns about the conduct of the Green Party’s sole councillor in the borough and her relationship with the Aspire administration.
In his letter, Cllr Islam highlights recent Full Council votes in which Green councillor Nathalie Bienfait supported actions that limited debate on the Government’s intervention in Tower Hamlets Council following a damning Best Value inspection, which found serious governance failings and a culture of patronage under Mayor Lutfur Rahman’s leadership Siraj letter to Greens.
The letter also details repeated instances in which the Green councillor is alleged to have helped Aspire secure control of key scrutiny positions, undermining effective oversight of council services, including housing and homelessness, during a period when the housing service was later downgraded by the Regulator of Social Housing Siraj letter to Greens.
Cllr Islam further challenges the Green Party to clarify whether it endorses Aspire’s record in Tower Hamlets, citing concerns over the administration’s handling of women’s safety, women’s health funding, and the treatment and representation of women within the council leadership Siraj letter to Greens.
“Residents deserve clear and unambiguous answers about whether the Green Party is prepared to continue propping up a discredited administration,” Cllr Islam said. “Tower Hamlets deserves transparent, accountable and genuinely progressive leadership.”