Cllr Anna Mbachu still has a chance of running in the May election
By Victoria Munro

A Labour councillor told she was not fit to represent the party in this year’s local election has successfully overturned the decision.

Cllr Anna Mbachu, who has represented Grove Green ward since 2006, was one of four current Labour councillors rejected at interview, alongside a cabinet member and his two relatives.

While all four appealed, Cllr Mbachu is the only one to have succeeded and will be able to run for re-election in May, provided she is shortlisted and chosen by a members’ vote in her ward.

Last October, Cllr Mbachu was ordered to pay £34,000 by the High Court after her libel lawsuit against a former colleague was thrown out due to insufficient evidence.

She claimed Eze Ihenacho, her former colleague at St Ann’s Hospital, called her a “liar”, a “vile deceptive pig” and someone who “undertakes violence” on social media sites in 2018.

However, judge Mrs Justice Tipples dismissed her claim because she only provided screenshots of the offending posts rather than the originals and ordered her to pay her opponent’s legal fees.

The three other Labour councillors rejected at interview – Cllr Liaquat Ali MBE and his relatives Umar and Hather Ali – are understood to have had their appeals rejected.

A total of eight current Labour councillors did not participate in the selection process this time around, including former leader Clare Coghill and the cabinet member for housing Simon Miller.

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