Cllr Kathleen Fraser (Barnhill ward)
Dear Editor,
I am grateful – as so many Wembley residents must always be – to you for maintaining Wembley Matters as a forum for airing matters of public interest, and giving a platform for those unable to rebut accounts of events on matters of importance to them published in other media.
I have now, as of today, resigned from the Labour Party. This means that I am now no longer bound by the code of silence imposed on me by the Party for the last 18 months following a complaint lodged with the Party by a local resident. A silence with which I have scrupulously complied, notwithstanding the barrage of adverse publicity, which ensued when the Party suspended me just over a month after my installation as Deputy Mayor.
Some may be aware that the London Evening Standard reported the suspension on24th June – as stated in their article: “In a leaked internal party email seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), members of the group were informed that Councillor Fraser had been "administratively suspended" whilst a confidential investigation takes place.”) This “leak” was never investigated. The damage to my reputation was clear. I have also suffered national attention - a Daily Mail article dated 17 November 2025 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article- followed by a request from ITN for an interview in relation to this. I made no comment to any of those media enquiries.
I received no help from the Labour Party in a time of severe emotional distress and pressure, notwithstanding that others were apparently free to traduce me locally and in the media. For the avoidance of doubt, the events underlying the complaint dated back to summer 2022, and raised with the Party in January 2024. I heard nothing of it until the Party wrote to me in October 2024, raising 18 different questions giving a tight deadline to respond. I treated them to 14 pages of detailed response refuting the allegations (with 9 attachments of supporting evidence) on 6 November 2024. I then heard nothing until my suspension on 19 June 2025 - just over a month after I became Deputy Mayor, I was told that I would hear “in due course” about a hearing. “In due course” turned out to mean 8 months later.
I received a letter from the Party dated 18 February 2026, which finally informed me of a hearing, in which I was invited to engage. I read it with increasing incredulity, and – finally, I admit – fury. The allegations I completely refuted were essentially repeated; no new “evidence” is provided. They have added insult to injury by amplifying the accusations in the “charges “against me in one ill-written paragraph (defamatory in nature). (I do not know whether it has been shared.) I have responded to the Party’s 18 February letter, as I took the strongest issue with the way the charges were phrased and the seriousness and persistence thereby imputed. However, if the Party did not read them the first time, I had no faith it would read them now, even under a differently constituted Panel.
The whole process of the investigation of this complaint, first lodged in January 2024 has been flawed, has lacked transparency, and the disinterested observer might reach conclusions about the timing of its outcome and potential to maximise the damage to myself, and what I hope is my long-established standing in my community. I cannot omit making a point about the potential for continuing and ongoing harm to the complainant, who, self-describes as a ‘vulnerable person struggling with mental health problems’ who may continue to believe that the Labour Party will be offering support, when it is quite apparent that the Party has already cut them loose. In fact, I have, lost entire faith in the Labour Party although I have continued to serve the residents of Barnhill as an Independent Councillor.
In conclusion, to my response to the Party, I took the greatest satisfaction in saying that there would be no need for a Hearing as I was resigning from the Labour Party with immediate effect. I stand on the principle of natural justice, transparency and fairness. Sadly, based on my own bitter experience, for me the Party I was once proud to stand for no longer represents any of those qualities.
Kathleen Fraser
17.3.2026
15 comments:
Gutted for you kath saw it all happen, The “queen of chalk hill” became too popular and definitely too safe in her seat for some, you'll know who this is, i said its us original wembley should stick together and was over the moon when you got deputy mayor, only to be disgusted by the way you were treated, you allude to it but this suspension rubbish was put in to stop you going for selection and extended to make sure you couldn't go for selection in January, don't worry about leaving, brent west isn't the labour party we once knew and fought for its been perverted and dragged down so much its unrecognisable, your treatment was part of my leaving, but mainly how a party could be infiltrated to this degree and brought so low as it has is unforgivable, i heard the so called reason for it and just said “bollox” kath would never do that its rubbish and the amount of lies i heard over the past 12 months just learnt to shut it out, but i really don't care you were a great councillor and a good friend, hopefully you still are, i heard the “poison dwarf” organiser had more then a hand in it, but to me you of all people never deserved this, hope you keep well mate.
Well explained and well done. Unfortunately our one and only Towerblock has the power via her position on the the London NEC, and her job, plus friends in high places, and therefore, anyone she dislikes in the London Labour Party will be attacked and abused. Not forgetting that she wanted her pick for Mayor, and that was not our Kath. Others have been excluded and suspended under Towerblock's direction. The next obvious and popular choice to be Mayor was then bought off.
Cant blame this one on tatler this was much closer to home
Cllr Fraser, you have always been one to speak up, even before you were labour and elected. I remember you in public meetings holding the labour councillors to account. In that regard it was strange to see you join them given the history between you. However you were elected and became deputy mayor. From the point of the complaint I don’t know who you got ro advise you but silence was the worst thing you could do. You let them control the narrative and they deselected you anyway. Those people who wanted an interview with you at ITN, get back in touch with them. It is time to speak out and expose them. You must do them the maximum political damage in time for the election. Really, as a socialist you should be joining Your Party by Corbyn and put them to shame locally, and also stand again. However, many of your colleagues also treated wrongly have gone Green. I would suggest to the Greens to consider having you as you have been a backbone of the local community, Labour or not. People like you are needed to represent our communities. So chin up, and fight back.
It was evident from reading the evidence in this case - and I read every word - that even a cursory AI analysis would have been able to discern that the person making the complaint against Cllr Fraser was contradicting herself all over the place and could scarcely be called credible. And yet the party nationally appeared unable to carry out the most cursory triage of the 'complaint'. Unable? Or, Unwilling?
It was evident also that the local party whose assistance Cllr Fraser sought in dealing with the individual, had no sensible procedural suggestion to offer during the period before the complaint was lodged, as to how the resident might be dealt with, despite public figures continually being at the sharp end of the disturbing fixations that some individuals may - and do - manifest, with disturbing behaviours escalating into stalking, amongst others.
#Whither governance?
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The Poison Dwarf is only doing others bidding. Yes, Brent West Labour has been corrupted.
Brent Labour and the London NEC should be ashamed, but perhaps it's what they wanted, more clones and Labour Party office staff?
Only a personal thought but, i think a valid one, this stinks, why if this person made a complaint referring to a councillor, didnt they go to the council with it, just doesnt hold water that they went to the labour party very fishy. Unless it was set up.
I do not know Kathleen Fraser personally, nor any details of the complaint made against her, but I do agree strongly that any such matter should be handled with 'natural justice, transparency and fairness.' That has clearly not been the case here.
I am, by choice, a political independent, as I like to be able to say openly what I believe, without ever having to "toe a Party line". This allows me to have contacts, and friendships, across political parties, where local politicians have learned that they can trust me to share their private views with.
My family "roots" are Labour (I can remember helping my Dad deliver Labour local election leaflets to homes on the Council housing estate I grew up on in the 1950s!), but I have witnessed the decline in standards and integrity in the Labour Party over the past few years, both locally and nationally.
We are facing local elections in Brent on 7 May, with Brent Labour led by a councillor who has been Council Leader for 14 years. During that time, he has gathered more power to himself, and at times abused that power. I am aware that he has, allegedly, bullied and mistreated a number of Labour councillors who have tried to suggest different views from his own. Brent has lost some good, decent local councillors, who have either been suspended, deselected or have stood down 'for personal reasons', rather than put up with what one former councillor described to me as his 'Leadersh*t'.
Members of the public have also suffered from his controlling aggression, when chairing meetings. Examples are being told that they cannot speak at Barham Park Trust Committee meetings on controversial development plans that he wants to push forward, or in my own case, having a legitimate point of order (why he had declared his preferred option agreed, when there had been no actual vote by Cabinet members, and there should have been votes on two possible options) ignored by him as Chair, and being subjected to an attempt to humiliate me into backing down.
( https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2024/05/cllr-muhammed-butt-loses-his-cool-when.html )
I sincerely hope that as many Brent residents as possible will turn out to vote in the local Council elections, considering a range of candidates from different parties, and voting tactically where that will help to get a more balanced Council. Brent has been under the control of an (albeit democratically elected!) small clique of Labour politicians for too long.
There is a chance to change that on 7 May, but only if more people turn out to vote, rather than thinking that they have no power to change anything, and that those who have traditionally voted Labour realise that it is no longer the Party that represents people like them!
Rehabilitation of criminals with spent convictions is important to society.
Crime in 1963 with 50 years jail time in which to change.
We don't know content of character reference, but if it were of current known behaviour....
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2134749/notorious-rapist-killer-had-labour
In theory could we ask them to make a complaint about cllr butt, or some other labour cllrs and get the lot suspended
Thanks for sharing Kathy. If it’s any “consolation”, I had false allegations put into my due diligence report relating to the Labour candidate selection process for 2026. I challenged these allegations, which obviously proved to false as I was selected to stand in Kenton. I know who the sources of these false allegations are - senior local officials. I was also told by one of the two senior local officials that I should not apply to stand in Queen’s Park ward where I live because Queen’s Park is white”. I am black. The local Labour Party is not the party many think it is and that is why I also left despite being selected to stand in Kenton.
Just to clarify one of many misconceptions, there was no character reference it was a witness statement. As a result of making a statement to the police I was called by the defence to attend court, prior to which I was asked questions by defence solicitors which were presented in the form of a witness statement in the re-trial.
Thank you for your support. Much appreciated
Politicians hang out with unsavoury characters all the time, which is why we see Barry Gardiner with Modi, Tulip Siddiq with her Aunt, and Dawn Butler with Wes Streeting. That Cllr Fraser (according to that article) gave a character reference for a murderer isn’t necessarily justification for being sacked. I don’t know why she is considered responsible for him or the individual making the complaint as it is for the police to investigate that, not a deputy mayor.
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