Mothin Ali, the co-deputy leader of the Green Party in England and Wales, is reportedly a private landlord himself, according to recent reports. Ali, a Leeds city councillor, has held his leadership position since September of the previous year. Only a month after he assumed his role, the Green Party passed a motion advocating for the "effective abolition of private landlordism" through regulations and taxes.
Reports indicate that Ali, 44, owns two rental properties. He purchased the first, a three-bedroom house, in the Gipton area of Leeds for £165,000 in June 2022. He acquired a second property for £157,000 in March of the following year, a few months prior to becoming co-deputy leader. These purchases were reportedly made through his private limited company, MA Holdings.
While Ali declined to disclose rental income for the first property, general rental rates in Gipton range from £1,000 to £1,300 per month. A spokesperson for the Green Party stated that Ali has acted solely in the interest of vulnerable close family members for whom he has caring responsibilities and that this personal information would not be made public to protect his family. Ali asserted that he declared ownership of both properties to Leeds City Council upon his election in May 2024 and at the time of the second purchase.
This is not the first instance of controversy involving Ali. Following his 2024 election victory, he declared it a "win for the people of Gaza" and stated that the voice of Gaza and Palestine would be amplified. Earlier, comments made on his TikTok account after the October 7 attacks surfaced, in which he reportedly described Israel as "white supremacists" and Gaza as the "biggest concentration camp the world has ever seen."
The Green Party's 'abolish landlords' motion, passed at a conference in Bournemouth, declared the private rental sector a "vehicle for wealth extraction, funnelling money from renters to the landlord class." Party leader Zack Polanski has previously argued that a lack of regulation in the private rental sector turns tenants into "cash cows."
Ali is not the only Green politician to have faced scrutiny over rental property ownership. Adrian Ramsay, another Green Party figure, was revealed to be a landlord shortly before the 'abolish landlords' motion was passed. His parliamentary register of interests showed rental income exceeding £10,000 annually from a co-owned room. Ramsay had previously defended his situation, stating he co-owned a former family home with his ex-wife and kept rent below market rate, not intending to be a landlord long-term.