Birmingham city councillor Saqib Khan has been told he is no longer a suitable Labour Party candidate for the 2026 local elections
Councillor Saqib Khan, who currently represents Small Heath in Birmingham
A Birmingham city councillor who has been at the centre of a row over his drug-dealer brother, currently on the run in Pakistan, has been cast aside by the Labour Party.
Saqib Khan, currently councillor for Small Heath, has been ditched from Labour’s ‘approved’ list of council candidates for the 2026 elections in Birmingham after an internal review of his actions.
The party decided to dump him after investigating media reports that he had attended the wedding of his younger brother Fahan in the Kashmiri village of Dadyal in June 2023, while Fahan, 31, was seeking to evade two charges of conspiring to supply Class A drugs.
He had been charged in 2021 over his role in a massive Birmingham-based drug running operation involving heroin and crack cocaine moving between the city and Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. He fled to Pakistan and refused to return for his court hearing.
READ MORE: Birmingham drugs fugitive wed on the run in Pakistan – with councillor brother among guests
A warrant for his arrest was issued in July 2023 and Fahan was convicted in his absence in February 2024 at Aylesbury Crown Court and given a four year prison sentence.
He remains a fugitive.
Thames Valley Police have said they are working with international agencies and other forces to bring Fahan to justice.
As a result of media coverage of the case, questions had been asked of the party about the councillor’s suitability to represent residents in Small Heath.
Councillor Khan has persistently denied knowing his brother was wanted by the police and claimed he only found out he was on the run when he read about his conviction in 2024.
The two brothers had the same home address, the extended family residence in Small Heath, but Cllr Khan claimed they were estranged.
He also claimed he had only attended the wedding because he was in Pakistan on other business and ‘under family duress’, staying only briefly.
In a statement today, West Midlands Labour said: “Following media reports that brought new information to light, a review was carried out in accordance with our selection procedures.
“As a result, Cllr Saqib Khan has been removed from the panel of approved candidates for the May 2026 local elections.”
Saqib Khan, left, and his fugitive brother Fahan
The party refused to clarify the detailed reasons for their decision other than to refer to a ‘review’.
Cllr Khan had originally been unveiled as Labour’s candidate for Small Heath earlier this year. At the same time several other stalwart members of the city council’s Labour group were deselected.
The decision to keep Cllr Khan and not others had raised eyebrows, particularly as he had recently been found to be in breach of the councillor code of conduct over his treatment of fellow Small Heath councillor Shabina Bano.
She had alleged being bullied and harassed by a group of councillors, including Cllr Khan, following her election alongside him in 2022. She told an investigation that she had been badgered to vote for his ally Waseem Zaffar as Labour group leader soon after her election. Cllr Zaffar subsequently narrowly lost the leadership ballot, with Bano’s refusal to back him seen as decisive.
The independent investigation later found Cllr Khan had breached the council’s Code of Conduct by failing to treat Cllr Bano with respect. He was given a reprimand and ordered to undergo ‘code of conduct’ training. A second councillor, Mohammed Idrees, had admitted his part in failing to respect Cll Bano.
Bano, a mum-of-five, later quit Labour and joined the Liberal Democrats as a result. She welcomed today’s announcement but said Cllr Khan’s behaviour and that of other councillors had caused her huge distress over many months. “I am glad to see the Labour party have finally shown some integrity.”
We have reached out to Cllr Khan to offer him a right of reply.