Councillor Sunita Hirani said she ‘won’t rest’ until she gets to the bottom of it
A London councillor has claimed her suspension from the Conservative Party ahead of the local elections was “perfectly timed” to stop her nomination from going in. The representative for Kenton ward on Brent Council, Councillor Sunita Hirani, was suspended from the Conservatives “pending an investigation”.
Cllr Hirani resigned her membership during the investigation and the Party has since referred the matters to the police. A statement by the Conservatives has said the internal investigation related to “alleged criminal activity”. Cllr Hirani, who is a former police officer, will now stand as Independent.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that she wasn’t informed of the nature of the allegations and wants to “clear [her] name”. Cllr Hirani claims she has “asked repeatedly” for answers as to why she was suspended and “won’t rest” until she has got to the bottom of it.
She feels it is “a deliberate act” to damage her reputation and impact her chances of re-election when voters go to the polls on May 7. The LDRS understands that Cllr Hirani has since involved a legal team and issued cease and desist letters to the Conservatives over the claims. She said: “I want to clear my name. I want to find out what’s going on.”
The Conservatives have said that Cllr Hirani chose to resign her membership “before the full evidence and allegations could be formally presented to her”. The Party claims the matters that led to her suspension “have now been referred to the Metropolitan Police”.
A Party Spokesperson said: “Brent Conservatives expect the highest standards and take these issues extremely seriously. We fully support the Conservative Party’s commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity and conduct. We will not be commenting further while the appropriate authorities continue their investigations.”
Cllr Hirani said that she learned of her suspension on March 31 following a phone call from the area chair and was advised that she would be informed of the reasons for this in due course. She claimed she then received an email on April 1 to confirm this but with the nomination deadline being on April 9, felt that if she didn’t resign she would not be able to stand at the upcoming elections.
She said: “I was not prepared to wait. I didn’t want to jeopardise my nomination so I had no choice but to stand as an Independent.”
Cllr Hirani is continuing to campaign ahead of next month’s vote and hopes to continue to represent Kenton residents. She said: “I am more determined now. Determined to get out there and do what I’m good at and that’s helping residents. I’m not going to stop.”
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