Crawley mayor resigns: Cllr Malik explains reasons for standing down days before vote of no confidence meeting

Mr Malik said he would continue to serve as a borough councillor after stepping down as mayor

Shahzad Malik, who took over the role in May, stepped down weeks after footage of himself in a scuffle with another man at Tushmore roundabout was posted on social media.

A motion of no confidence, submitted by Tory leader Duncan Crow, was due to be voted on at an extraordinary meeting of the council on Thursday.

In a letter to council chief executive Natalie Brahma-Pearl, Mr Malik said: “While there is no mechanism in law which can force the mayor to resign, I have come to the decision that the damage already done to my reputation during this period of forced silence risks unfairly tarnishing the office of the mayor and the good work of the council.

Councillor Shahzad Abbas Malik was elected Mayor at the Annual Crawley Borough Council meeting on Friday 28 May

“Now that I am permitted to explain the context of my actions, I have taken the decision to resign and I hope that the council will now be able to commit its full-focus to the enormous challenges our community is currently facing.”

Declaring that the resignation had come ‘seven weeks too late’, Mr Crow called for an election to be held to select a new mayor and for all councillors, no matter their party, to be considered.

The council currently has 18 Conservative councillors, 17 Labour and one Independent.

With Independent Rory Fiveash regularly siding with his former Labour colleagues when it comes to voting, the council has seen a string of decisions made on the mayor’s casting vote.

While he will no longer be mayor, Mr Malik will continue as councillor for Langley Green & Tushmore.

He said: “Crawley means everything to me.

“I cannot express how deeply privileged I feel to have had this chance to have served our town as the Mayor.

“While circumstances have forced me to end my term early, I will continue to do everything I can to serve the community I love.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said on Tuesday in relation to an incident involving two men on July 19: “A police report has been sent to the CPS for a decision as to whether there should be prosecution.

“The matter is therefore not closed and the man who was interviewed remains on police bail at this time.”