GB News criticised after mistaking someone else for the mayor of Brighton

The GB News show Patrick Christys Tonight showed a clip of a bearded man receiving garlands from some other men and said that he was the mayor, Mohammed Asaduzzaman.

The clip was broadcast as Mr Christys discussed proposals announced by the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to devolve some government powers to the regions.

During the show, Mr Christys said: “More power would also end up in the hands of regional mayors, right, so like Brighton and Hove’s recently elected mayor, for example, Mohammed Asaduzzaman, who I think we have a clip of here.

“Alright, ok, realistically, do we want more power in the hands necessarily of people like that?”

A clip from the show was tweeted by Queen’s Park resident Adrian Hart who criticised the error. The Labour leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, Bella Sankey, said: “This is more racist garbage from the GB Disinformation Service.

“Not only does this clip not feature our fantastic mayor, Councillor Mohammed Asaduzzaman, but it wrongly claims he is a regional mayor rather than our city’s ceremonial mayor.

“We need an immediate apology from GB News and a retraction and will be referring this embarrassment to Ofcom.”

The mayor of Brighton and Hove is expected to be politically neutral and the role is ceremonial with no direct power.

Councillors elected the mayor to be Brighton and Hove’s first citizen at the annual council meeting on Thursday 16 May. He spent the previous year as deputy mayor to Councillor Jackie O’Quinn.

During their year in office, the mayor represents Brighton and Hove locally, nationally and internationally.

Since May, Councillor Asaduzzaman has attended a range of events from citizenship ceremonies to D-Day celebrations and the official launch of new cricket nets at the Stanley Deason Leisure Centre.

Councillor Asaduzzaman was elected as a Labour councillor for Hollingdean and Fiveways ward in May last year.

He has lived in Brighton for 30 years and has been involved with numerous charities and cultural organisations in the area.

He was born in Bangladesh and has a degree in political science. He worked with the State Minister for Irrigation and Water Development before moving to Britain.

GB News was approached for comment.