Exclusive: Controversial candidate tells Lewis Goodall why he 'rates' Andrew Tate

In brief...

• In the 2019 election, Shabana Mahmood secured an 80% majority in Birmingham, Ladywood, but Labour is investing heavily in her 2024 re-election campaign due to rising competition from Akhmed Yakoob.
• Akhmed Yakoob, a defense lawyer, TikTok star and independent candidate, has gained significant support from the local Muslim community, leveraging his social media presence and controversial views.
• Labour faces challenges with voter disillusionment and the appeal of Yakoob's anti-establishment rhetoric, especially in constituencies with substantial Muslim populations.

In the 2019 election, Labour's Shabana Mahmood won an enormous 80% majority to become the MP for the Birmingham Ladywood constituency, a result any candidate would envy.

So you might think, going into the 2024 election, that this would be considered a safe seat.

But reportedly, Labour is "ploughing" money into her re-election campaign – and there's one man determined to take advantage of that insecurity.

That's defence lawyer Akhmed Yakoob, an independent candidate who has generated support in the constituency among its large Muslim community. Yakoob has gained popularity for his pledges of support for the people of Gaza – but he has stirred up controversy due to previous comments he's made about women, and outspoken support for Andrew Tate.

He's also a big deal on TikTok. Boasting five million likes, Yakoob uses the platform to share videos talking about helping drug dealers get reduced sentences, and give tips about how to frustrate police during interviews.

Lewis Goodall met with Yakoob to find out why he's so popular, saying the candidate has taken the constituency "by storm".

Yakoob's popularity led him to securing third place in a recent mayoral election for West Midlands.

But he was also forced to apologise for his actions during a podcast recording, where he laughed at misogynist comments about violence against women, and said "everyone has got a role in the household", and in his home he is "the man" and "the king".

His comments were called "deeply disturbing" by The Muslim Women's Network.

When campaigning with Yakoob, Goodall described him as being treated "like a celebrity", with one constituent claiming he is "representing the youth" and has "all the facts right".

A former Labour voter, expressed disappointment with how local MPs have said or done little to show support for Gaza, and failed to tackle local issues as well.

"Even our local Labour MPs take the vote and we never see them again."

"I'm better known than the Labour Party, to be fair. More loved than the Labour Party," Yakoob says.

"Politicians only care about profit, and not the people unfortunately. I actually care about the people, that's why I'm out and about, trying to meet everyone."

He says he is campaigning against the "political elite", and while some polls show him neck-and-neck with Shabana Mahmood, he thinks "the stats are wrong".

"In terms of the polls I should be well ahead I think," he says.

While out campaigning, Goodall quizzed him on previous comments about supporting Andrew Tate – who is facing charges of rape and people trafficking.

"The mainstream media have been doing hate-pieces against him for almost two years now, and the man always comes back," says Yakoob.

"He's not broken, he still comes back with a response."

He says the media has an "agenda" against the influencer, but admits he "probably has said some appalling things".

The News Agents asked to speak to Mahmood about her campaign for Birmingham Ladywood but she turned us down. Labour's Jess Phillips, MP for neighbouring constituency Birmingham Yardley, did sit down with Goodall.

She criticised Yakoob's recent comments about women and Andrew Tate.

"I have got loads of messages of fear from Muslim women who have been victims of domestic abuse," Phillips says.

"They're getting in touch with me saying 'how can this be happening?' Please do something to stop this man, who's got these views and is spreading these views about, from getting power."

But she also showed concern for his suitability for politics, and his previous run for mayor, calling his campaign "worrying".

"How the hell is he going to deliver on any of the things he claims to, and no one is asking him how. The idea he's going to sort out the decline in Ladywood? Pull the other one.

She also criticised previous claims that, had he become mayor, he would have set up an aid route to Gaza.

"How are you going to do that – on the number 11 bus? Because that's what the mayor is in charge of," she adds.

"Do you think Benjamin Netanyahu is sitting waiting for the West Midlands' mayor?

"And yet he's writing this, as if this is going to happen. It's just dishonest to lie to people, and claim that some maverick is suddenly going to come and Ladywood is going to be paved with gold. It's just a lie."

What Lewis Goodall says...

"There are particular things in this constituency we're seeing that are unique, and there are things which feel very similar to everywhere we're going in the country," he says.

"On the things that are particular to here, Ladywood has a big Muslim population. There's no doubt from being here that the Labour Party has a lot of work to do with the Muslim population in this country.

"That clip of Keir Starmer on LBC, it's done enormous damage and it's going to take a lot to unpick."

"There's something else as well, which is the same here as everywhere else, is that unbelievable cynicism. That belief that politics is simply not possible to make your life better – and into that void steps someone like Yakoob," Goodall adds.

"Backed up in particular by an astonishing social media operation, the sort of thing we are going to see more of in the years to come, in a way the established parties have not quite woken up to.

Not a big problem necessarily for Labour in this election because they are so far ahead, but when and if they get into trouble in government when the Conservatives remain tarnished in opposition, then you might see more faces, more people like Yakoob, peddling a very particular type of politics that could make us feel very uncomfortable, very quickly."

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