Peterborough Conservatives clarify position over councillor suspended from the party as Kirsty Knight also joins group
Peterborough City Council’s Conservative Group has clarified the position of Cllr Ishfaq Hussain.
Cllr Hussain was elected to represent the Dogsthorpe ward on Thursday (May 7) after winning 113 votes more than his nearest rival from the Reform Party.
Cllr Hussain appeared on the ballot as a Conservative but, in the lead up to the election, was suspended pending an investigation due to posts he made on social media.
The suspension came too late to make any changes to the ballot paper.
Despite this, Cllr Hussain, who also represented the Dogsthorpe ward between 2021 and 2024, won the election.
He was initially listed on the council website as a Conservative councillor but this has since been amended to describe him as an independent.
Cllr Hussain remains an independent for the time being while the investigation takes its course.
Re-elected Conservative Group Leader Wayne Fitzgerald said: “He was elected as a Conservative candidate by the public, however, he is facing a disciplinary and as such his membership is suspended. He is not suspended or ejected from the party, he just can’t officially join our group, until that has been resolved.
“This doesn’t assume anything about guilt but somebody has made a complaint and the complaint needs to be investigated.
“He was fairly and squarely elected by the good people of Dogsthorpe under a Conservative banner and we expect that, at some point, he will join the group formally.”
Cllr Hussain is expected to work with the group on an informal basis at present.
Taking away the seat won by Cllr Hussain, the Conservatives are still the biggest on the city council and their numbers were boosted back up to 13 on Monday night when Cllr Kirsty Knight, representative for Orton Waterville, announced that she was joining the group.
Cllr Knight said that she realised that she could “no longer fight everything alone” and that joining the group would give her the support to “continue delivering for residents while remaining the same independently minded councillor people know.”
Speaking after Cllr Knight’s decision to join the group, Cllr Fitzgerald said: "The Tories in the city aren’t dead. It is very much the opposite and our election results show that.
“Kirsty felt alone and wanted some support from colleagues, many of whom had been sympathetic over her code of conduct hearing.
“The result of the elections clearly show that political parties have the edge- some people think independents have the edge and that does depend on the independent- but it is proven to be the case in Peterborough. I can’t see that the position will change for independents, particularly in light of the growth of Reform.
“Kirsty joining is great, we welcome all sorts of people.”