Cabinet member Ali jumps ship to Tories

By John Hill on February 23, 2010 5:11 PM |

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Tower Hamlets Council cabinet member Anwara Ali has left Labour for the Tories, saying she has become "disillusioned" with the party's NHS reform.

The Bow West councillor's defection will come as a blow to the ruling party, as the GP was lead member for health and well-being in the borough.

Following a meeting with Conservative party leader David Cameron at the party's HQ, she handed over her membership. She was subsequently accepted by Tower Hamlets Conservative group leader Cllr Peter Golds, and unveiled at a press conference in Brick Lane today (Tuesday).

Cllr Ali has been an elected councillor in the borough since 2006, and has also been a cabinet member for Equalities, Employment and Skills.

She said: "I have been a lifelong Labour supporter, but I believe the country cannot afford five more years of Gordon Brown.

"As a GP working on the frontline in the largest practice in the East End, I have become increasingly disillusioned with Labour's failure to reform the NHS. The past decade has seen this government waste millions of pounds on bureaucracy in hospitals.

"Gordon Brown's obsession with top down targets and a tick box culture has ruined the moral and goodwill of the national health staff. Ill health and early death in the East End is a direct result of Labour's failure to bring real reform to the NHS."