North West Cambs Conservative Association 'grieved' as Mohammed Farooq steps down as president

North West Cambridgeshire Conservative Association (NWCCA) has said it’s “grieved and deeply disappointed” to lose Mohammed Farooq as its president.

Cllr Farooq (Hargate and Hempsted) resigned from the Conservative group on Peterborough City Council (PCC) this week and has also stepped down as association president.

He says that a “toxic culture” led him to quit the party in Peterborough; he is one of seven who have left since May’s local elections.

Cllr Farooq’s son, Cllr Saqib Farooq (Glinton and Castor) also left the party this week, as did cabinet member Cllr John Howard (Hargate and Hempsted).

All three will now sit as Independent councillors, while the four who left in May (Cllrs Ray Bisby, Stanground South; Gavin Elsey, Wittering; Peter Hiller, Glinton and Castor and Brian Rush; Stanground South) have since joined Peterborough First.

The Conservative group says that it “strenuously denies” allegations of a toxic culture.

Cllr Farooq says that he stepped down from his role at the NWCCA because he didn’t want to put them in a difficult position, having already left Peterborough’s Conservative group.

The association is made up of local Conservatives, with functions such as fundraising, campaigning and choosing candidates for council and parliamentary elections.

It says it’s an “active local group of like-minded people and we support Conservative candidates and councillors and our Member of Parliament, Shailesh Vara”.

Its chairman, Graham Bull, said in a statement: “We are grieved and deeply disappointed to lose Mohammed Farooq as our president. He has been a valuable member of North West Cambridgeshire Conservative Association for some years and his experience and wise counsel will be much missed.

“President is an honorary role and his departure will have no effect on the day-to-day running of the Association. We remain strong and focused and will appoint a new president at our next officers’ meeting.

“Our priority as always is to support our members, our MP and all our councillors right across the constituency, working with other associations as appropriate.”

Cllr Farooq has been a member of PCC since 2018.