THE chairwoman of a parish council has strongly denied pushing for an all-Muslim leadership team – following the emergence of alleged text messages that appear to show she had been.

Cllr Shaida Akbar, chairwoman of Wexham Court Parish Council, allegedly told a colleague in a text that “we need (to) get the chair and vice to be Muslim this time. We all need to work together”.

The date of April 22 is displayed in the WhatsApp messages, seen by The Observer, which would have been less than two weeks before Cllr Akbar rose to become chairwoman last year. Cllr Akbar, a Labour party member, appears to warn in the same messages that another councillor, Cllr Sandra Malik, would stand for chairwoman, and that she would “pump the other Gori (white people) to back her”.

A message says: “Muslims need unity. We need someone (to) lead and keep them all in order.”

On May 5 last year, Cllr Akbar became chairwoman by a 6-4 majority, defeating Cllr Malik. Cllr Raja Muhammad Fayyaz became vice-chairman.

A source, who has also seen the texts, lodged a complaint with Slough Borough Council (SBC). The complainant said: “There were text messages between her and another person, which said she wanted to have only Muslim people in the parish council.

“I put the complaint in to the interim head of legal in Slough Borough Council.”

SBC confirmed it had received the complaint, but said it found no case to answer. Chairwoman of Slough Labour Group, Christine Hulme, also confirmed she had received complaints, but could not confirm their nature.

The complainant slammed SBC for finding no case to answer against Cllr Akbar – and said it had not even informed her of the outcome. She said: “They’re racist remarks – I’m quite surprised they ignored it.”

Cllr Akbar has also been shortlisted as a candidate for the 2018 SBC elections by the Labour Party, this newspaper has learned. She also serves as the attendance governor for IQRA Islamic Primary School in Wexham Road.

Cllr Akbar strongly denied she had ever written the texts. She said: “I didn’t know about these texts – it comes as a real shock. I am really gobsmacked that people would come up with that – there are people who have reported me, that hold grudges. I’ve been reported over 20 times, but nothing ever came of it. I work very hard, I’m really flabbergasted that these vicious rumours are circulating.”