Man Resigns From Change UK After Race Row

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Former Ealing Council candidate stands down after social media comments

A man who stood as Conservative Councillor in Ealing local elections has been forced to resign from the new centrist party Change UK after comments he made about 'Romanian pickpockets.'

(Mr Sadjady speaking last year (Cllr Joy Morrissey/Twitter))

Ali Sadjady, was the nominated candidate in the South Acton ward in 2018 and a major supporter of fellow conservative councillor Joy Morrissey's campaign to be London Mayor.

He was due to be standing for the new party in the forthcoming European parliament elections in London, but after social media comments were revealed he was accused of joining in “hate speech” against EU citizens.

On Twitter in 2017 he had said he was tempted to support Brexit if it stopped Romanian pickpockets coming to the UK, he wrote, “When I hear that 70% of pickpockets caught on the London Underground are Romanian it kind makes me want Brexit.”

After his comments were reported in The Independent this week, a spokesperson for Change UK said, ''Following discussions, Ali Sadjady has reflected on his inappropriate tweet from 2017 and agreed to stand down from the list of potential candidates.”

The Change UK party launched earlier this year but one of its MPs, Angela Smith, caused uproar by describing people from ethnic monitories of as having a “funny tinge” in a discussion about racism and skin colour on live TV. Ms Smith apologised but did not resign.

Other candidates for the Change UK party include former BBC journalist Gavin Esler, the former conservative deputy prime minister of Poland Jacek Rostowski, and Rachel Johnson, journalist and sister of Boris Johnson.

25 April 2019