Hemel Hempstead Reform candidate claims he was sacked for his political views

Saba Poursaeedi, from Hemel Hempstead, stood for the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency at last year’s General Election.

In October 2023, he began a maternity cover role as an internal recruitment officer at Hightown Housing Association and accepted a new job as a resident involvement officer there in February 2024.

Mr Poursaeedi, 36, says he had already signed the contract for the new role and was set to begin in April, but the housing association told him in March he couldn’t take it up.

It came after he had voluntarily disclosed his political roles, and despite a probation report from his manager that – according to The Daily Telegraph – he had “done himself and the team proud”.

Mr Poursaeedi is now suing Hightown, claiming that their actions amount to wrongful and unfair dismissal and belief discrimination.

The housing association, which manages almost 9,000 homes in Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, denies his claim.

According to The Daily Telegraph, legal documents filed by Mr Poursaeedi’s lawyers said that a month after accepting the new role, he was asked to attend a meeting with two senior Hightown employees.

At the meeting, they allegedly said that his work with Reform UK “gave rise to a conflict of interest” with the work he would be doing in his new role and that Reform UK’s policies on immigration, net zero and the green belt were “in direct conflict with Hightown’s values”.

Talking about the meeting to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Poursaeedi said: “I couldn’t breathe. I was completely speechless. My world fell apart. I was completely blindsided.

“While the job was on the table, I had financial stability and the chance of earning some proper money. And then it was all gone.

“I felt like I was being crushed. I was incredibly emotional. I was breaking down in tears.”

Mr Poursaeedi, whose second child was born later in 2024, said he then applied for several other roles within Hightown but was told he would not be able to take up any customer-facing positions – including one as a damp and mould inspector.

One employee reportedly told him there may be “the potential that the residents may feel uncomfortable with the support if they were aware of the political associations”.

A crowdfunding campaign to support Mr Poursaeedi’s legal bid has raised £20,000 since it was launched last week.

He told The Local Democracy Reporting Service it was “heartwarming” to see the donations to his crowdfunding page. He continued: “It’s very clear those donating are people from all different walks of life, in all sorts of different industries.

“This isn’t just a problem for Hightown Housing Association. This is a problem for every charity, every bank, every corporate institution, every workplace.

“Larger businesses are operating under this draconian system of overtly political company values where employers feel entitled to the opinions of their workers.”

Mr Poursaeedi – a former member of the Labour Party – has been supported by Reform UK’s leader, Nigel Farage, and the Free Speech Union (FSU).

The FSU’s founder, Toby Young, told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Poursaeedi “has been subjected to a political witch hunt” and that Hightown should be “encouraging its employees to get involved in democratic politics, not punishing them for it”.

According to The Daily Telegraph, legal documents submitted on behalf of Hightown said Mr Poursaeedi’s Reform UK role “did not create any conflict of interest” with his first role at the housing association because it was not customer-facing.

They said that a search of Mr Poursaeedi’s Twitter page had found retweets, including one that said: “The taxes you pay are being used to house immigrants in social housing. You should be outraged about this.”

The documents also said the job offer was “conditional”, and that Mr Poursaeedi could not be dismissed from the role because he had not yet taken it up.

The housing association denied that “the principal reason for any dismissal” was his “political opinions and/or affiliations”.

Hightown declined to comment on this story because of the ongoing legal case.