Leader of Crawley's Conservative group calls for No Confidence vote in town's Mayor and 'seeks his immediate resignation'

The leader of the Conservative Group group in Crawley has called for a vote of no confidence in the town's Labour Mayor.
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It follows reports and video of a fight between two taxi drivers.

People on social media and national websites like Guido Fawkes have suggested that one of the drivers was the Mayor of Crawley Councillor Shahzad Abbas Malik

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But to date repeated attempts by the Crawley Observer to either confirm or dismiss the suggestions from the Mayor himself and Crawley Borough Council have not been forthcoming.

Councillor Duncan CrowCouncillor Duncan Crow
Councillor Duncan Crow

Today, the council gave us this comment on request for further information: “There was an incident on Monday afternoon involving two taxi drivers. This incident is now being investigated and therefore it is not appropriate to comment on a live investigation.”

In Sussex Police's latest statement, they said they are aware of footage of the incident and are asking the public not to speculate on the identities of the people involved while officers conduct their enquiries.

The Observer, which inline with its trusted journalism has gone to great lengths not to participate in the speculation without a formal comment but accepts a formal note of no confidence is now a matter of significant public interest.

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In an email sent to Councillor Shahzad Abbas Malik seen by the Crawley Observer, cllr Crow said: "Dear Mr Mayor, In line with the rules in the Council’s Constitution where any nine members of the Council can request an additional Full Council meeting, we formally request that you call an Extraordinary Full Council meeting in order to consider the following single item of business.

Mayor of Crawley Councillor Shahzad Abbas MalikMayor of Crawley Councillor Shahzad Abbas Malik
Mayor of Crawley Councillor Shahzad Abbas Malik

"Notice of Motion proposed by Cllr Duncan Crow and seconded by Cllr Kevan McCarthy.

“This Council expresses No Confidence in the Mayor and seeks his immediate resignation.

"This item of business cannot wait until the next Ordinary Full Council meeting scheduled for the 20th October 2021, as we believe the residents of Crawley will feel that three months is too long to wait in order to start restoring the reputation of our town’s mayoralty.

"Yours sincerely,

"Cllr Duncan Crow, Cllr Kevan McCarthy, Cllr Andrew Belben, Cllr Simon Piggott, Cllr Maureen Mwagale, Cllr Tina Belben, Cllr Richard Burrett, Cllr Jennifer Millar-Smith, Cllr Alison Pendlington.”

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