The Green Party’s deputy leader, whose party has backed plans aimed at abolishing landlords, is reportedly a private landlord himself.
Mothin Ali, a Leeds city councillor, owns two buy-to-let homes in the city’s Gipton area, both of which are understood to be occupied by tenants.
Ali has been co-deputy leader of Zack Polanski’s Green Party in England and Wales since last September.
The following month, at the party’s conference, Green members approved a motion introducing a policy called “Abolish landlords”.
Under the proposal, the party said it would seek to deliver the “effective abolition of private landlordism” through a combination of regulation and taxation.
But reports now suggest that Mr Ali, 44, is himself the owner of two rental properties.
The politician purchased the first home – a three-bed former council house – for £165,000 in June 2022, according to The Sunday Times.
That came before he paid £157,000 for a second property in March last year, months before he was handed the co-deputy role.
The report suggests that Mr Ali bought the two homes through his own private limited company, MA Holdings.
Mothin Ali, a Leeds city councillor, has served as co-deputy leader of the Green Party in England and Wales since last September
Zack Polanski’s party passed a motion last October bringing into effect a policy titled: ‘Abolish landlords’
But reports now suggest that Ali, right, owns two rental properties in the Gipton area of Leeds
Mr Ali declined to reveal how much he charges his tenants to rent the first property, which is believed to be occupied, but rental homes in Gipton are generally available for between £1,000 and £1,300.
A spokesman for the Green Party told The Times: ‘We have provided deeply personal information to your newspaper in confidence which shows that Councillor Ali has acted solely in the interests of vulnerable close family members for whom he has caring responsibilities.
‘At Councillor Ali’s request, we are not going to make this information public to protect his family.’
Mr Ali claimed that he declared the ownership of his first property to Leeds City Council when he was elected in May 2024. He also said he notified the council when he purchased the second property.
This is, however, not the first time that the 44-year-old has been the subject of controversy.
Mr Ali declared his triumph at the 2024 elections a ‘win for the people of Gaza’ in a rowdy post-victory speech, before adding: ‘We will not be silenced. We will raise the voice of Gaza. We will raise the voice of Palestine! Allahu Akbar!’
A short time later the politician found himself shrouded in further controversy when comments from his TikTok following the October 7 attacks were unearthed.
Mr Ali had labelled Israel ‘white supremacists’ and claimed Gaza was the ‘biggest concentration camp the world has ever seen’.
Away from politics, Mr Ali is a keen gardener. He runs a YouTube channel dedicated to the hobby which has racked up thousands of views.
His most popular video is a tutorial on how to make fast compost at home which has more than 1.2million views.
The Greens’ decision to pass the ‘abolish landlords’ motion last year was made at a party gathering in Bournemouth.
The motion stated: ‘The private rental sector has failed, it is a vehicle for wealth extraction, funnelling money from renters to the landlord class.
‘This motion makes it clear Green Party policy is to seek the effective abolition of private landlordism and our support for building council housing.’
Party leader Mr Polanski later argued that a lack of regulation within the private rental sector was turning tenants into ‘cash cows’.
Mr Ali, however, is not the only Green politician to have been caught out owning a rental property.
After his 2024 election win, Mr Ali declared the triumph a ‘win for the people of Gaza’ in a rowdy post-victory speech
It emerged a short time before the motion was passed that Adrian Ramsay, one of the party’s MPs, was a landlord in Norfolk.
At the time, the politician’s parliamentary register of interests revealed that he rented out a co-owned room, which provided rental income of more than £10,000 per year.
The MP for Waveney Valley had previously defended being a landlord, posting on social media in August 2025: ‘I co-own a property with my ex-wife, which we used to live in.
‘I don’t make a profit from it as I have kept the rent below market rate. I don’t intend to be a landlord long-term.’
Mr Polanski only confirmed this week that he wants to be the Green candidate in the by-election for Sir Keir Starmer’s old seat in Holborn and St Pancras.
The party leader said he was ‘excited’ by the prospect of representing the region as he ‘loves the community’.
It came after Sir Keir announced his immediate departure in what was another U-turn from the former Prime Minister.
Speaking to the Camden New Journal, Mr Polanski said: ‘I have lived and worked in this community over many years, I know it well and I love it.
‘It represents so many of the things that make London so special. I am so excited by the prospect of representing this place in Parliament.’
He added: ‘Holborn and St Pancras has everything that’s the best of our country and so much potential.
‘But for too long now it’s been held back by governments who have failed to make the changes to improve people’s lives.
‘We know that the Greens can win here, and by electing me, voters will have someone who will always fight their corner – never scared of big donors or the party whip. Too often Labour has stood up for corporations and big money. I will stand up for people struggling to pay their bills.’
The move provides Prime Minister Andy Burnham with a headache. Labour has held the inner London constituency since 1983, though it now faces the real prospect of losing the seat.