Hanif Alli has an impressive CV. Having worked in social work and in the NHS, Alli is now Bolton’s first Green councillor. The 59-year-old, ward councillor for Halliwell, doesn’t want to stop there, however.
The father-of-three has now set his sights on becoming the town’s first Green MP. Halliwell born-and-bred, Cllr Alli is the son of first-generation immigrants to the UK from India, with his own father coming to England after seeing a poster advertising for workers in the cotton mills. He said: “I started my work life working in a sweatshop, like many of my peers.
"The first-born Asian generation here usually worked in sweatshops after school, and worked on markets at the weekend. “We did milk rounds before we went to school, so the work ethic has always been there, I think, for the first generation who were born here – because we saw our parents working so hard in the mills to make ends meet.” In 2002, aged 36, Cllr Alli won the council’s central ward on the Labour ticket – smashing one of the many glass ceilings he says have been placed in front of him throughout his life due to his race.
“I was one of the first Asian councillors, it was quite pioneering – we wanted to buck the system,” he said. Now, 22 years on, Cllr Alli believes the Labour Party has become too similar to the Conservatives under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer. He said: “I’ve always been into social justice, workers’ rights.
I feel that the new Labour Party, if you like.
