“I don’t think anything could have prepared me for it”: Ex-councillor reveals true extent of racist abuse

A former Sheffield councillor, who is a Muslim woman, has revealed the racism she experienced in the role.

Nabeela Mowlana, who was a councillor for Park & Arbourthorne for four years from 2022, there was “no policy that I could champion, no initiative that I could celebrate” without receiving abuse in the lead-up to the local elections in May.

She lost her seat during the May local elections to Reform UK’s Matt Smith.

Reflecting on her role, she feels there is a common view that “just because someone’s been voted into a position, they somehow stop being a person”.

She said: “I had been in elected roles before, and so I wasn’t a stranger to high levels of accountability or scrutiny.

“But as my term went on, and I think particularly when it got closer to the election, my goodness, the pivot was… I don’t think anything could have prepared me for it.”

She said there was nothing she could post about and no initiative she could celebrate without receiving abuse.

When Abourthorne Primary School was selected for the Government’s free breakfast club scheme in April 2026, Ms Mowlana said it was a “massive win for the community”.

“Arbourthorne isn’t a rich ward. There’s huge pockets of deprivation. I believe in universal services, so the idea of there being a breakfast club at local primary schools is something I want in every primary school. That was a genuine moment of celebration.”

Ms Mowlana posted a video to social media to share the news.

“The comments, of which there were hundreds and hundreds, were just flooded with, how I was trying to get kids to have halal meat, would there be bacon and pork sausages there, and a stream of pig emojis. It was just bizarre.”

Another time, Ms Mowlana helped to secure new council housing for the ward.

She said: “The right to good quality council housing is something that I believe in, something I would always fight for. The houses that were built were good quality council homes that families are now living in.

“It’s just a massive win. And again, my entire comments section was flooded with, “It’s all for those immigrants, isn’t it? Look at the person who’s talking about it.”

Ms Mowlana said during her time as a councillor she knocked people’s doors on every street of the ward.

“Even on the doorstep, the comments I’d receive, the things people are actually willing to say to your face, and the conspiracy theories that people will espouse so bravely. I got called a traitor to Britain. It’s incredible, the things that people are willing to say.

“That was not my experience when I was first elected four years ago.”

Ms Mowlana believes that the abuse she was met with reflected a political discourse that had become mainstream.

She said: “If you have the likes of Rupert Lowe and Nigel Farage in Parliament, going on with the most racist, awful conspiracy theories that they just repeat as fact.

“It gives other people permission, then, to say and do horrible things.”

She said even in the days after losing her seat when she was exhausted, trying to tie up casework before her email access was revoked, she was still getting social media abuse.

“After the result, I know you shouldn’t take any stock with Facebook comments, but some of the comments were just hideous.

“It was like people were reclaiming the city because a brown Muslim woman had lost her seat, and it was a sign that Sheffield was becoming great again.

“I don’t think that I am immune from criticism or accountability because I am a woman of colour. I’ve never subscribed to that view that I should receive some kind of special protection because of it.

“What I’m asking for is to be held to account the same way any of my colleagues are held to account.”