Convicted Terrorist to Stand as Pro-Gaza Candidate in Council Election
29th January 2026
A Muslim activist who was jailed for his part in an armed terror plot is standing to become a Birmingham councillor in May.
Shahid Butt was imprisoned for five years in 1999 for conspiring to bomb the British consulate, an Anglican church and a Swiss-owned hotel in Yemen.
Yemeni prosecutors said the gang had been sent to commit violence by Abu Hamza, the hate preacher, who was the father of one of the convicted men.
Mr Butt has been unveiled as a candidate for an alliance of independents set to contest about 20 seats in the Birmingham city council election on May 7.