News, Politics

Former Sheriff of Nottingham joins Green Party as council budget cuts passed

By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter

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A former Sheriff of Nottingham has joined the Green Party – becoming only the second local politician in the city’s history to join the group.

Cllr Shuguftah Quddoos, who represents Berridge ward on Nottingham City Council, had previously represented the Labour Party before quitting in November last year.

She stood down after being suspended by the party, having been the only councillor to vote against the authority’s “devastating” budget last year on March 4.

Having stood as an independent since November, Cllr Quddoos announced on Monday (March 3) she had joined the Green Party in a speech made at the Robin Hood statue.

Her announcement came as the authority’s ruling Labour group passed a balanced budget for the year beginning April 2025 at a meeting of Full Council on the same day.

“I still stand for the principles I always have: dignity, justice and a good life for everyone,” Cllr Quddoos said.

“I will be able to serve my residents better in a party which holds these same values and that doesn’t sanction me for speaking up when it matters.

“As a Green I am free to use my vote to do what’s right for my residents. Their voice is my voice, their needs are my needs.

“What I’ve discovered is a party with a full range of sound policies like a new National Health and Social Care Service, replacing the broken model of council tax, and abolishing the two-child benefit cap – all things that would benefit Nottingham.

“Our city ranks eleventh out of 317 districts in England for deprivation. Labour’s austerity 2.0 and performative cruelty aren’t the answer here, or anywhere.

“I will continue to be a fierce defender of community centres, libraries, and local jobs in the face of this Labour council’s cuts.

“However, I don’t only want to be a voice of opposition. I want to be part of imagining new, better things for Berridge ward and this city.

“People want alternatives. Having real choices and space for real criticism is part of any healthy democracy. And in the home of Robin Hood, it’s only fitting to have a splash of Green.”

Zac Polanski, the deputy leader of the Green Party, visited the city to greet Cllr Quddoos and attend a protest at Nottingham Council House.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This is a huge moment for Nottingham and the Green Party. We’ve had 14 years of Conservative austerity and the Labour Party were ushered in promising change, but actually what we have seen is winter fuel payments cut, the two-child benefit cap continue, and the war in Gaza.

“At local level we’ve seen public services sold off to private companies. Ultimately this is a moment where people are looking for an alternative.

“The Green Party can offer real hope and real change and Shuguftah is a real example of that.

“We are at a real crossroads in politics and it is potentially very dangerous. People are looking for alternatives, and Reform are painting themselves as that alternative.

“The Green Party are going to continue to push this message that we are there to stand for the poorest and most marginalised communities. Ultimately this is about tackling inequalities that happen at local community level.”

Cllr Quddoos has become the second Green councillor in the city’s history.

The first Green councillor was John Peck, who won the seat of Bulwell East – on his 36th attempt – in 1987, under the Communist Party for Great Britain (CPGB).

With the council made up of equal members of the Labour and Conservative parties at the time, he often held the casting vote on issues of the day.

In 1990, when the CPGB was nearing its end, Mr Peck defected to the Green Party.

He held this seat at three elections before his retirement in 1997.

“He was a community man who knew the streets he represented like the back of his hand. In it for solutions, not status. That’s the kind of councillor I aspire to be,” Cllr Quddoos added.

During Full Council on Monday, Labour councillors approved the budget, including a 4.99 per cent rise in council tax and a raft of new savings and cuts.

Around £17.9m of savings and cuts will be delivered next year, alongside a further £24m over the next four years.

They include reviews of adult social care services, such as “high-cost” care packages, as well as back-office savings via the “streamlining of layers of management and team sizes”.

Cllr Quddoos attempted to table what she described as a ‘no-cuts’ budget amendment.

However it did not make the agenda, with the Labour administration stating there was no other councillor available to support the amendment.

The amendment included the possibility of using £63.9m in reserves to avoid the cuts, and it questioned the need for a £15m corporate contingency fund.

The amendment, created with the help of campaign group Nottingham Save Our Services (SOS), argued there is no legal minimum level of reserves the council has to keep.

It noted the council’s director of finance said 7.5 per cent of the net £352m budget is a suitable amount.

The £63.9m, the amendment states, is equal to 18.15 per cent.

Responding during the meeting, Cllr Linda Woodings (Lab), executive member for finance, said: “Every council has to set a balanced budget, but it can’t just be for one year.

“Of course we are going to argue for more [money], but do you run your households maxing out your credit card?

“We need to understand 14 years of starvation of funds to the city cannot be reversed in seven months.”

Cllr Woodings said the authority felt more “optimistic” presenting the budget under a Labour Government, which has given the council £30m more than previous years in its financial settlement.

She said the budget offered a realistic plan to create a renewed council, steering it back to a more sustainable financial footing.

“We have already had to take incredibly difficult decisions, but Nottingham Labour councillors did our legal duty to set balanced budgets year after year,” she added.

“This year we have steered away from further cuts to universal residents’ services.”

The Nottingham Independents and Independent Group, including Cllr Kevin Clarke, Cllr Kirsty M Jones, Cllr Maria Watson and Cllr Andrew Rule, abstained from voting on the budget.

Cllr Quddoos was the only councillor to vote against it.