At War with Themselves?

The question of Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz taking her own council to court has caused some amusement. We understand that it is being whispered within the council buildings that there is no tribunal case, (which suggests to us, that Fiaz intends to drop the matter), but we are confident in our original assertion.

We have struggled to find anything similar happening in any other authority. We can imagine a disgruntled former Chief Exec taking a council to court, but the pertinent word here is ‘former’. We can understand a junior employee feeling victimised and taking the matter to court over her treatment by a manager.

We have never heard of the boss of an organisation alleging discrimination against the organisation she runs! She was discriminated against by a junior? Just how does that work?

Imagine for a moment, the scene at a tribunal. On one side sits Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz. On the other sits Chief Exec Abi Gbago and the Newham Council legal team. At the very least, Private Eye is going to have a field day.

Quite what this will do for the ongoing working relationships between the two is anybody’s guess.

Our understanding is that the case concerns an investigation into her (bullying) behaviour. It seems that Mayor Fiaz does not believe that she should be held to the same standards as her councillor colleagues. It seems that she believes that investigating her is racist.

We suspect that she is preparing to withdraw the case, (you have to be a bit thick to be oblivious to the political embarrassment of taking your own council to court). Of course, we hope that our suspicions are wrong.

Mind you, with the whispers that there is no case lodged there will be some doubt as to the veracity of our claims, so we feel another FOI coming on.

She is lucky in one sense, none of the three constituency parties is operating in Newham, (indeed, no-one knows how many members Labour has left in Newham). So, with the CLPs suspended, there is no criticism from the party membership. There is no evidence yet that this will change prior to the 2026 local elections. And whilst there is clearly dissent within the ranks of the Labour Group, councillors are not organised against her.

Let’s hope that we will be seeing them in court, soon.