Who are Azhar Ali and Graham Jones? Labour candidates suspended over Israel remarks

Sir Keir Starmer was forced to suspend a second Labour candidate, Graham Jones, on Tuesday after the party decided to withdraw its backing from Azhar Ali, another Labour contender for an upcoming by-election.

Both men have been accused of making anti-Israel comments during the same meeting of Lancashire Labour members.

But who are these politicians, what did they say and how will it impact upcoming by-elections?

Who is Azhar Ali?

Before his suspension from the party, Mr Ali had been Labour’s candidate for the Rochdale by-election, which is due to be held on 29 February.

His political career began when Mr Ali joined Pendle Council where he became a council leader. He then stood as Labour’s parliamentary candidate in Pendle in 2015 and 2019, but failed to be selected by the party.

After going on to become a councillor on Lancashire County Council in 2013, he took charge of the council in 2017. Mr Ali was awarded an OBE for his service to the community.

This year, he was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the Rochdale byelection on 27 January.

What did he say about Israel?

In an audio recording, Mr Ali claimed Israel deliberately allowed the Hamas invasion of Israel on 7 October to go ahead in order to give Israel the “green light” to invade Gaza.

Hamas’s initial attack killed around 1,140 Israelis and foreign nationals with 248 people being taken hostage. Subsequent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed over 29,000 people, according to the territory’s health ministry.

The Labour councillor later apologised for the comments, with shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds claiming on Monday morning that Mr Ali had fallen for an “online conspiracy theory and that does not represent his view”.

But Labour U-turned on its support for the candidate just hours after Sir Starmer said he would continue backing Mr Ali.

The party claimed “further information” had come to light with the Daily Mail publishing a fuller recording of Mr Ali, blaming “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for pushing criticism of Andy McDonald, the Labour MP who was suspended after using the “between the river and the sea” slogan during a pro-Palestine protest rally.

Mr Ali also claimed during the meeting of party activists in Lancashire that Israel planned to “get rid of [Palestinians] from Gaza” as part of a “land grab”.

Who is Graham Jones?

Mr Jones, the former MP for Hyndburn had been seeking re-election in the seat after losing it 2019.

He first became an MP in 2009, holding the seat in the 2010 election by a majority of 3,090.

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Under Ed Miliband’s leadership of the Labour Party, Mr Jones was appointed to the Whips office and was an assistant whip throughout the 2010–15 Parliament.

Even though he was re-elected to his seat in 2015, Mr Jones resigned from the Labour frontbench that same year following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as party leader, saying he could not serve under the “extreme left”.

After Boris Johnson’s resounding win in the general election, Mr Jone’s constituency was one of the many “Red Wall” areas to turn blue and he lost his seat in 2019.

In a bid to retake “Red Wall” constituencies, Labour had selected Mr Jones to contest the Lancashire borough at the next general election.

i understands Mr Jones has been suspended from the Labour Party pending further investigation. He was called into an interview with party officials on Tuesday evening as a part of a process which could see him removed as a parliamentary candidate.

What did he say about Israel?

Mr Jones was recorded saying “f**king Israel” repeatedly, according to the political news website Guido Fawkes at the same meeting of Lancashire Labour members which prompted Mr Ali’s suspension on Monday.

He reportedly also called for Britons fighting for the Israel Defence Forces to be “locked up”.

The Labour Party moved to suspend Mr Jones a day after suspending Mr Ali.

The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), a group that is affiliated with the party, said Mr Jones’ comments were “appalling and unacceptable”.

A spokesperson for JLM said: “Over the past two days, the importance of a zero tolerance approach to antisemitism in Labour has become clearer than ever.”

What do their suspensions mean for the upcoming by-elections?

The Rochdale by-election had been triggered by the death of the incumbent Labour MP Tony Lloyd. Labour is defending a majority in the constituency of nearly 10,000 and was expected to easily hold onto the seat.

The by-election will still be held on 29 February.

Election Commission rules state that a candidate can only withdraw from a race 19 working days before the poll. That deadline already passed on 2 February.

At this point Labour can only withdraw their support and advise constituents to not vote for the candidate – but Mr Ali will still appear on the ballot paper for Labour.

If he does win, though, Mr Ali will not hold the party whip and will sit as an independent MP.

While far from an official position, one local Labour insider said that some activists in Rochdale will seriously consider throwing their support behind Simon Danczuk, the disgraced former Labour MP, in an attempt to prevent a victory for George Galloway, who is running as a Workers Party candidate in the by-election.

In Hyperburn, Labour will have to follow a formal process if the party wanted to strip Mr Jones of his candidacy, but he is believed to have been called for an interview.

Regardless, the scandal in Hyperburn could potentially harm Labour’s chances of regaining the seat.