With the local elections looming things are getting seriously weird in Oldham again
Oldham's local election campaign has descended into bizarre personal attacks, with Werneth candidate Mohammed Imran Ali (aka Irish Imy) posting a surreal video featuring rival councillor Kamran Ghafoor's face taped to a peeing fountain, exemplifying the borough's "toxic political culture" ahead of May 7th elections.
A candidate in Oldham’s local elections has posted a video showing the face of a rival councillor taped to a pint-size water fountain shaped like a little boy urinating, the latest flare-up in what some are calling a “circus” and “car crash” of toxic campaigning ahead of the May 7 vote.
The video, shared by Werneth candidate Mohammed Imran Ali - known as “Irish Imy” and for his past as a getaway driver for cop-killer Dale Creghan - targets Conservative councillor Kamran Ghafoor, leader of the Oldham Group and a property tycoon whose part-owned building collapsed while tenants were inside. The clip has drawn both laughs and criticism, but underscores a bitter online culture where personal attacks have become routine. “It’s not that we haven’t been to bad places before,” said deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, Coun Sam Al-Hamdani, who has faced anger on doorsteps in previous elections. “But I think now politics and politicians are giving themselves a bad name. And that’s feeding into a frenzy on social media, where the angriest voices are always the loudest.”
Independent councillor Marc Hince called the state of campaigning “embarrassing” and a “car crash,” while Labour council leader Arooj Shah and opposition leader Ghafoor have traded direct video barbs over burial sites and the building collapse. “I’ll make no apologies for calling out misinformation,” Shah said. But the vitriol has had a personal toll: independent councillor Lisa Navesey broke down in the council chamber last year after sharing how online abuse affected her family. “My children read every threat, every form of abuse,” she said. “My 15 year old grandson has seen pictures of me with a noose around my neck.”
Ali, whose video one councillor called “deserving of a comedy slot on Channel 4,” defended his content, saying, “I won’t apologise for speaking out, for the video, or for asking questions that residents deserve answers to… The truth only hurts people that are trying to sell a lie.” With many expecting a “nasty negotiation period” after the election if no party wins outright, there are fears the online rancour will escalate further.
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