A Liverpool councillor who stepped down from his cabinet role over a development controversy is set to leave the council.
Cllr Abdul Qadir has represented the Picton ward of Wavertree since 2011 for the Labour Party. The ECHO understands he will not be seeking re-election in May and will therefore step down.
Cllr Qadir was named in Mayor Joanne Anderson's cabinet when she was elected in May. He was handed the position of cabinet member for neighbourhoods.
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But in August of last year he stepped back from that position pending an investigation into his reported links to an stalled development scheme in Vauxhall.
An investigation by the ECHO found Cllr Qadir had links to a large stalled development scheme in Vauxhall through the Liverpool-based Vega Group, which owns MV Canal, the subsidiary company behind the scheme. Cllr Qadir had been a director of Vega Group company Vega Trading since September 2014.
We reported that Cllr Qadir was a member of a Liverpool Council taskforce set up to investigate buyer-funded property schemes in the city, also known as fractional sales. Fractional schemes, where buyers put down large deposits to finance off-plan apartment schemes, attracted huge controversy following the collapse of high profile projects.
Cllr Qadir declared his interest in the Vega Trading Group and MV Canal on the council's register of interests. He said his role with Vega Trading had not conflicted with his role as a councillor on various committees including the fractional taskforce. He maintained he had done nothing wrong and has nothing to hide.
Cllr Qadir was first replaced as cabinet member for neighbourhoods by new Labour group leader Liam Robinson and more recently by Mayor Anderson herself.
On May 4 Liverpool Council will hold all out elections, with every seat on the council up for grabs. It is understood that Cllr Qadir will not be seeking re-election and will step down from the council at that point.
He is not the only long-serving Labour member to be leaving the council. Last week former Deputy Mayor Ann O'Byrne confirmed she would also be leaving elected office after she was named as the central figure in the ECHO's parking fines investigation.
Labour have also blocked former cabinet member Barry Kushner from standing again after he too was named in our investigation.
Cllr Qadir was approached for comment.
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