Rushanara Ali’s return to X after a month’s hiatus indicates she intends to remain MP

After resigning as homelessness minister in July and spending over a month absent from X, Rushanara Ali has returned to the platform, suggesting she intends to remain MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney despite calls for her to step down.

On 7 July, Labour’s Rushanara Ali resigned as homelessness minister after it was revealed she evicted four tenants to increase the rent on a property she owns in East London.

Ali, who said she adhered to ‘all relevant legal requirements,’ sent her tenants an email in November saying their lease would not be renewed. The property was then re-listed for an extra £700 a month, which, under Ali’s own Renters Rights bill, is set to become illegal.

Despite her resignation, Ali – the first British Bangladeshi to be elected to parliament and one of the first Muslim women to represent the Labour party – remains the MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney, a post she has held since 2010.

Ali went five weeks and five days without posting on X, returning to the platform on 16 September when she retweeted a post made by the Labour Party.

This lack of activity was unusual for the Bethnal Green and Stepney MP, who used to post daily. After resigning to avoid becoming a ‘distraction,’ it seems Ali took a break from X to limit further scrutiny.

The decision might also have been motivated by safety concerns, following the online harassment she received during her last electoral campaign.

In either case, her silence on social media raises questions about whether her controversial resignation will impact her position as MP.

Immediately after she resigned from her ministerial role as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Homelessness and Democracy, Green Party Councillor Nathalie Bienfait of Bow West said: ‘Rushanara Ali is no longer the right person to represent Bethnal Green and Stepney.

‘She has completely lost the trust of the voters and should do the honourable thing by standing down and allowing them to elect an MP who really speaks for them.’

But since her resignation on 7 July, there have been no further calls for her to step down.

Ali is also not the only Labour politician to have resigned from a ministerial role amid controversy and remain an MP.

Tulip Siddiq, who resigned as anti-corruption minister in February 2025 after she was the subject of an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh, is still the MP for Hampstead and Highgate.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who resigned after breaching the ministerial code over a tax payment, also continues to serve as MP for Ashton-under-Lyne.

Since she was elected in 2010, Ali has been popular in her constituency of Bethnal Green and Stepney, formerly Bethnal Green and Bow.

She has won a total of five elections and, in 2019, she retained her seat with a majority of 35,393, winning 72.7% of the vote.

However, when Ali abstained from a vote calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in November 2023, her decision proved unpopular with constituents.

In the 2024 elections, her majority was reduced to 1,689. 

With local elections in May 2026 looming, it remains to be seen how much her controversial resignation will affect her chances of retaining the seat.

The Slice reached out to Rushanara Ali for comment, but has not heard back. 

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