How does this Reform councillor represent a ward in Hull while working in London?

How does this Reform councillor represent a ward in Hull while working in London?

The mystery of how a Reform councillor is able to represent his ward in Hull when he does not appear to live anywhere near the Humber has finally been answered.

Salman Anwar, who was elected to Hull City Council last month, has faced questions from his ward members over where he actually lives.

The picture has been somewhat complicated by the fact that he posted on X this March that his home is in southeast London. “I live in Bermondsey,” he wrote. “Great views!” He wrote a few months before that he lived in Canada Water, a neighbouring area.

His LinkedIn indicates that he works for a housing association in London, and his social media feed is stuffed with photographs from the capital.

Back in 2022, a man with the same name stood for the Conservatives in the elections for Brent Council, another London neighbourhood, this one in the northwest. Anwar has written on his X account that he used to be a Tory activist.

Anwar, interestingly, has claimed to have “lived in Hull all my life”. So what is the truth? While he’s paid to represent the ward of St Andrew’s and Docklands, where is he living?

A constituent contacted Anwar for clarification, and they shared his reply with us.

“I work full-time for a social housing provider,” he says, “so I have to split my time between their head office in London and working flexibly from my family home in Hull.”

We emailed Anwar to ask him what this split looks like — how much time is he actually spending in London versus Hull?

He didn’t reply.

Anwar might not be breaking any electoral rules, as it appears from his register of interests that he resides at his parental property in Hull.

But perhaps constituents might expect a bit more from their elected officials? Reform’s leader Nigel Farage has faced similar questions about how much time he really spends in Clacton.

For what it’s worth, Anwar added in his email to the constituent that he went to school and university in Hull and now wants “to try to represent everyone” in his ward.

That said, we also hear that he posted — and then deleted — about being stuck on a train during the heatwave last week… from London.