Councillor Syed Hoque dies of a heart attack

Published: 22 April 2010
by RICHARD OSLEY

A LIBERAL Democrat councillor who defected from the Labour group in Camden over foreign policy has died of a heart attack in the middle of his campaign to win re-election.

Tributes have been paid to Syed Hoque, 60, who represented the Haverstock ward, after his death from a suspected heart attack on Friday.

Lib Dem council leader Keith Moffitt said: “Our thoughts are with his family. He was a quiet man but he was underrated as a councillor. As a social worker, he had a good input in the discussions we had about social services and he would was a very good case worker.”

In a joint statement, Jill Fraser and Matt Sanders, Cllr Hoque’s fellow Lib Dem councillors in Haverstock, said: “This is a very difficult time, particularly for Syed’s wife and children, and our thoughts are with them. 

Labour leader Councilor Nash Ali said: “This is a very sad moment for the people of Camden, who will mourn this sad loss.”

The Conservatives have also passed on messages of condolences Cllr’s Hoque family. But as the tributes poured in, election officials have had to react quickly to “countermand” the council ballot in Haverstock.

While the rest of the borough votes for who they want to sit on the council on May 6 – two weeks today – residents in Haverstock will take part in a postponed poll on Tuesday, May 25.

The see-saw ward is key to both the Lib Dems and Labour in their hopes of winning overall control of Camden.

If the result of how people vote in that neighbourhood is crucial to the final result – a genuine possibility – residents in Camden will have to wait three weeks to discover who will run their local authority.

Cllr Hoque’s four years on the council was marked by the controversy of his defection to the Lib Dems last year. He linked his decision to the government’s foreign policy and its failure to take steps when Israel attacked Gaza. It was pointed out that Cllr Hoque had campaigned on the doorstep when he was elected in 2006 for Labour with the unpopular invasion of Iraq still fresh in everybody’s minds.

But there was no lasting  ill feeling among the political groups this week as attention turned to tributes. “I recall his commitment and dedication to the local community,” said Cllr Ali. “He was a very hardworking person who was very passionate about his work on the council.