Anger after Save NHS mayoral candidate is frozen out

Naveen Judah (pictured), who was standing for South Yorkshire Save Our NHS, demanded an apology after being left out by organisers Sheffield for Democracy.

Mr Judah, a former chairman of Healthwatch Rotherham, arrived at the event to be told he would not be allowed to speak.

“I was surprised, annoyed and a bit hurt to be quite honest,” Mr Judah said. “This is a group with a tagline that reads ‘inclusive democracy’ and this wasn’t the case at all.

“Some of the questions that were asked by the audience, I felt I was best to answer them and it’s a disservice to the process and electorate.

“It crossed my mind that I felt like I was being discriminated against because of my background and colour of my skin.”

Fellow candidate Mick Bower, Yorkshire Party, gave up some of his speaking time at the event in Sheffield last Tuesday (24) to allow Mr Judah to address the audience.

Mr Judah said: “Mick asked me to come up and I was really appreciative about that. But I felt stupid having to squeeze my way past people to sit next to him.”

David Allen from the English Democrats was also not invited.

Sheffield for Democracy said the panel was selected based on the amount of councillors each party had. 

Mick Bower called the group “fundamentally undemocratic” and pledged not to attend any of its future events.

And Doug Wright, election agent for Mr Judah, said: “It seems to have been a malicious act to stop Naveen from speaking. 

“After an hour, even though one of the candidates left, he was still not given time to answer questions from the audience or take part in a two-minute summary.”

The Sheffield City Region Mayor vote result is expected early tomorrow afternoon (4).