A Muslim activist who served a prison sentence for his role in an overseas terror plot is now seeking elected office in Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city, as local elections approach and communal tensions rise.
Shahid Butt was sentenced to five years in prison by a Yemeni court in 1999 after being found guilty of forming an armed gang and plotting to bomb the British consulate in Aden, an Anglican church and a Swiss hotel in Yemen. Yemeni prosecutors said at the time that the group was sent to commit violence by Abu Hamza, the extremist preacher who was the father of one of the convicted men.
Shahid Butt is seen in a screenshot of a campaign video posted on his TikTok account. (TikTok/@shahidbutt955)
He is now standing as a candidate for the newly formed Independent Candidates Alliance in the Birmingham City Council elections on May 7.
Butt maintains his innocence, claiming his confession was coerced through torture and evidence planted against him, The Daily Telegraph reports.
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Shahid Butt is pictured in 1999 after being detained in Yemen on suspicion of terrorism. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images)
He will compete with the Sparkhill ward, an area where it is estimated that almost two-thirds of residents have a Pakistani background The Daily Telegraph.
Butt’s candidacy comes at a time when Birmingham – home to one of the largest Muslim populations in Britain – faces new tensions over foreign policy, identity politics and public policy. These tensions came into sharp focus last November when Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv played Aston Villa in a Europa Conference League match.
Before the match, Butt used social media to call on Muslims from across the country to travel to Birmingham to show solidarity with the Palestinians and to prevent the Israeli team’s supporters from, in his words, ‘desecrating’ and ‘polluting’ the city. In one post he called the visiting fans ‘IDF baby killers’ Birmingham Live.
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A member of the public holds a protest sign outside the stadium reading “Football should not cover up genocide” ahead of the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD4 match between Aston Villa FC and Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC at Villa Park on November 6, 2025 in Birmingham, England. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Authorities eventually barred Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending the match, citing security concerns, after large-scale protests were planned.
In a video posted during a protest related to the match, Butt made comments that critics said veered from political speech to an endorsement of violence. “Muslims are not pacifists,” Butt said in the video. “If someone gets in your face, you’ll knock out their teeth – that’s my message to the youth.”
Local supporters and pro-Palestinian activists protest at Villa Park against the presence of Masccabi Tel Aviv, who they say should be banned by FIFA along with all Israeli teams due to human rights violations on November 6, 2025 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Guy Smallman/Getty Images)
Emma Schubart, a researcher at the Henry Jackson Society, said the developments exposed deeper fractures within British society. “Shahid Butt, a convicted terrorist, is running for office in a district that is around 80% Muslim. Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from Britain’s second-largest city, which is now almost a third Muslim,” Schubart said.
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A fan is led away by members of the police while holding the national flag of Israel outside the stadium ahead of the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD4 match between Aston Villa FC and Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC at Villa Park on November 6, 2025 in Birmingham, England. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
“Politically,” she added, “these events foreshadow a likely sectarian victory in the local elections as candidates like Butt are poised to erode Labour’s hold on seats across Birmingham.”
The Independent Candidates Alliance was founded by activists Achmed Yakoob and Shakeel Afsar, both of whom ran unsuccessfully in Birmingham constituencies during the 2024 general election on a pro-Gaza platform. The group is expected to field candidates in about 20 neighborhoods across the city.
