Cllr Ehthesham Haque

24/09/2026

After months of campaigning bollards are starting to go up along Chester road 💪

23/09/2026

Reminder for tomorrow

Anyone from Barnes and Thornhill Ward is welcome to come and speak to your local councillors 😊

20/09/2026

“𝐍𝐨𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 £𝟖𝟓,𝟎𝟎𝟎.”

That was the Reform Council Leader's response at Full Council on 24 June when the cost of the new political assistants was being discussed.

At the time, I don't think anyone listening interpreted “nowhere near £85,000” as “actually more than £85,000.”

13/09/2026

Fly tipping spotted and reported Cleveland road backlane

09/09/2026

Anyone from Barnes and Thornhill Ward is welcome to come and speak to your local councillors 😊

02/09/2026

🚨 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐃𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐎 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏?

I’m genuinely outraged by this. At a time when every penny of taxpayers’ money matters, I cannot understand how this can possibly be a priority.

Reform has already expanded Sunderland Council’s Cabinet and portfolio jobs from 7 under Labour to 16 at significant cost to the taxpayer.

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 £𝟗𝟑,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬.

And what are they being hired to do?

Write speeches. Draft questions and motions. Analyse Council reports and budgets. Prepare political briefings. Help with social media content.

These are things councillors are elected to do. Labour councillors managed them for decades without taxpayer-funded political assistants.

So you have to ask: why do Reform councillors suddenly need so much help?

With 58 councillors, an expanded political structure and now paid assistants to help read the reports, prepare the arguments and write the speeches — are they already struggling with the job?

Even the trade unions raised concerns. Unite specifically suggested that Reform should pay for their own political advisers rather than Sunderland taxpayers footing the bill. That suggestion clearly hasn’t been taken on board.

More positions. More help. More taxpayers’ money.

𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝’𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚. ❌

26/08/2026

I sometimes feel like a broken record talking about racism.

Another interview. Another incident. Another reminder that, for some people, the colour of my skin is still enough to make me a target.

And I won’t pretend it doesn’t get tiring.

I’m saddened every time it happens, but I’m also filled with hope by what happens next. The people who speak up. The people who challenge it. The people who refuse to let hatred and division speak for them.

I’m also very aware of something else.

If I wasn’t involved in politics and putting myself out there publicly, I probably wouldn’t receive anywhere near the amount of racial abuse that I do.

So why keep doing it?

Because if people like me are driven out of public life by abuse, then the people sending it have won.

I’m not giving them that victory.

Politics is becoming increasingly divided and angry, and we need to be incredibly careful about where that road takes us. We can disagree passionately about immigration, government, councils, political parties or anything else.

But someone’s race should never become am******on.

I’ll keep calling it out when I see it. I’ll keep having the uncomfortable conversations. And I’ll keep standing up, even when I’m thoroughly sick of having to talk about it.

Because if I don’t, then who will?

Let’s never allow disagreement to become hatred. 🇬🇧

Councillor Ehthesham Haque says he has to regularly hide racist comments on his his page.

24/08/2026

🔥 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐔𝐊: 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒, 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒

You really can’t have your cake and eat it.

Sunderland’s Reform UK administration has now been running the Council for over 100 days — yet this weekend we’ve seen two very different messages about the same Summer Series event.

🏙️ On Sunderland City Council’s official page, Reform’s Cabinet Member responsible for Culture, Tourism and Heritage described the Summer Series as a “fantastic opportunity”, welcoming thousands of people into Sunderland, showcasing our city and supporting city-centre businesses.

Sounds great — and I agree. Events like this are good for Sunderland.

But then came the traffic…

🚗 After congestion and road closures caused frustration, Reform UK Sunderland published a completely different statement on Facebook — blaming the previous Labour administration for the arrangements.

So which is it?

When thousands of people are filling Keel Square, Reform wants to celebrate the success.

When thousands of people are sitting in traffic, apparently it's Labour's fault.

You simply cannot have it both ways.

And even if some of these arrangements were inherited, Reform has been running Sunderland City Council for over 100 days.

If they believed the traffic arrangements were inadequate, they've had over 100 days to raise concerns, review the plans and look at what could be improved.

Instead, when the disruption happened, their response was to blame Labour.

At some point, you have to stop pointing backwards and start governing.

Major events bring huge benefits to Sunderland, but they also bring challenges. Running the Council means taking responsibility for both.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 — 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭.

After more than 100 days, Reform UK is the administration now.

Take the credit if you want.

But take the responsibility too.

04/08/2026

🏡 **Today I exercised my legal right as an elected Ward Councillor** to formally request that planning application **26/01572/HMOA** be referred to Sunderland's Planning and Highways Committee.

📞📧 This follows a number of residents contacting me by phone and email to express their concerns about the proposal.

🚗 One of the biggest concerns is parking. The application proposes **just one parking space for a six-bedroom HMO** in an area where parking is already a significant issue. Residents have told me they are worried about the additional pressure this could place on surrounding streets and the impact on those who already struggle to find parking.

🏛️ Given the level of public interest and the material planning issues raised, I believe this application should be determined transparently by elected councillors at a public Planning and Highways Committee meeting, rather than under delegated powers.

💬 **If you wish to support, object to, or comment on the application, you can do so via the Council's planning portal https://online-applications.sunderland.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=TIBD8IBBGFN00&activeTab=summary

📝 My formal request has now been submitted to the Council, and I'll continue to keep residents updated as the application progresses.

03/08/2026

This was the response to a simple post about improving parking safety on Chester Road.

The post had nothing to do with immigration, race or religion. It was about making parking safer for residents.

Yet the comments quickly descended into attacks about Muslims, foreigners, ethnicity and whether people from certain backgrounds should even be councillors.

Reading the recent Sunderland Echo article about councillors facing death threats, intimidation and abuse made me reflect on just how much public discourse has changed. Abuse directed at elected representatives is becoming increasingly normalised, and in many cases it's openly racist.

As councillors, we should expect scrutiny. We should expect criticism. People are entitled to disagree with our decisions and challenge us—that's democracy.

What is not acceptable is judging someone because of the colour of their skin, their ethnicity or their religion. That isn't political debate. It's racism.

The people who wrote these comments should be ashamed of themselves. If your response to a post about improving parking is to attack someone because they're Muslim or because of their heritage, then the problem isn't the post—it's your prejudice.
Something has changed over the last few months. People who would once have kept these views to themselves now seem comfortable posting racist comments publicly, even on a simple post about improving parking on Chester Road.

Sunderland is a better city than these comments suggest. The overwhelming majority of people are decent and respectful. We shouldn't allow a vocal minority to make racism seem normal or acceptable.