The next month election of Regent’s park ward in Hampstead of UK may see a change of political choice of people as another Bangladeshi, who is standing as a Conservative candidate, has expressed hope to fill the vacancy left by Tulip Siddiq, reported a Hampstead-based weekly.
The Hampstead and Highgate express(Ham&High) made a report over the upcoming council election in Regent’s park, which is is known for a large number of inhabitants who has Bangladeshi origin.
Tulip Siddiqui, the daughter of Sheikh Rehana and granddaughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, also the out going councillor of Regent’s Park, is set to contest in the as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn in next year’s general election.
On the other hand, Shahin Ahmed, 38, a Bangladeshi minicab driver who moved to the UK from Bangladesh in 1999, is standing as a Conservative candidate in Regent’s Park ward in next month’s election and hopes to fill the vacancy left by Tulip.
He said: “Camden has the UK’s second largest Bangladeshi population. For many years, Camden Bangladeshi people have voted for Labour and they have not got the service they needed.
“For too long the Labour Party here in Camden have told people in Camden that they do not have a choice, they must vote Labour.”
“I think only the Conservative Party will deliver a more equal society for all people in Camden.”
Shahin is general secretary of the central London branch of Bangladesh Nationalist Party and is currently trying to set up a Conservative Friends of Bangladesh group.
But he insists that as a councillor he would serve the interests of all residents, not just Bangladeshi people living in Regent’s Park.
“If anyone wants any kind of help, I will always try to help,” he said. “When I knock on the doors of Bangladeshi people they tell me that they are fed up of Labour.
“Eighty per cent of Bangladeshi people in Camden live in council properties. They have to wait six to eight weeks for a small repair job. They are fed up with the way the council is run.
“Camden Council run by the Conservatives would do better because of the Conservatives in government. There would be better funding.”
Camden has the second largest Bangladeshi population in UK and Labour party candidates have been the first choice for them for decades.
Tulip has been a very popular leader among the inhabitants of the locality and she is looking forward for greater responsibilities in British politics.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
