Philip Brookes #

Introduction #

Philip Brookes is a British former doctor who stood as the Green Party candidate for the Manor Park ward of Newcastle City Council at the May 2026 local elections, and lost his party’s backing over it. After Labour accused three Newcastle Green candidates of making “horrendous antisemitic” comments online, Newcastle Green Party withdrew its endorsement of Brookes two days before polling day, citing an ongoing national disciplinary process — but because candidate nominations had already closed, his name remained on the ballot paper as a Green. He finished fourth in the ward as the Liberal Democrats held all three seats. Brookes has not been reported as publicly responding to the allegations, which were attributed to a Facebook account in his name and remained allegations rather than findings by any court or regulator.

Background Information #

Brookes was described in news coverage as “Dr Brookes,” and the BBC identified him as Dr Philip Brookes when it reported the accusations against him in April 2026. He was one of three Green candidates standing for Newcastle City Council — alongside Chandni Chopra and Mohammed Suleman — whom Labour accused of making antisemitic comments on social media. A Labour Party source told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the Green Party should “urgently” withdraw support for the candidates and make clear the views were “abhorrent.” The Green Party responded that it was “investigating anything brought to [its] attention that doesn’t fit” with the party’s values.

The posts at issue, some of which had been deleted, were seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. One post on Brookes’ Facebook page included an image which branded Israel “a bunch of Polish, Russian, Hungarian terrorists killing Palestinian people for 76 years.” His account also published an image of an Israeli flag being torn to reveal a Nazi swastika flag, and in a post about the war in Gaza said it “takes serious effort not to be a tiny bit antisemitic.”

Brookes was standing in Manor Park, a three-seat ward where the Liberal Democrats’ incumbents — Greg Stone, Doreen Huddart and Deborah Burns — had held comfortably in previous cycles, making an upset difficult even before the controversy.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

The controversy that cost Brookes his endorsement centred on his personal Facebook account. According to the ChronicleLive report that revealed the concerns in late April 2026, a Facebook account in the name of Dr Brookes stated in one post about the war in Gaza that it “takes serious effort not to be a tiny bit antisemitic.” The same account contained the image of the Israeli flag being torn to reveal a Nazi swastika flag behind it, and, separately, one that branded Israel “just a bunch of Polish, Russian, Hungarian terrorists killing Palestinian people for 76 years.” The characterization of the posts as antisemitic came from Labour, Jewish community bodies and the press; the underlying posts were attributed to his account by news reporting rather than by any court finding.

The row escalated into a broader crisis for the party on Tyneside. In the days after the accusations became public, the local party issued an apology for social media posts shared by some of its election candidates, saying “antisemitism or racism of any kind does not have any place in the Green Party, or anywhere else in society,” while a national spokesperson stressed a “clear distinction” between “vocal criticisms of Israel and antisemitism” and noted that some of the posts had been deleted as they did not reflect the party’s views.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The formal consequence arrived on the Tuesday evening before the Thursday poll, when Green officials on Tyneside announced they were withdrawing their endorsements for Brookes and Suleman. A Green Party spokesperson confirmed: “Newcastle Green Party has withdrawn its endorsement of Philip Brookes (Manor Park) and Mohammed Suleman (Arthur’s Hill) as candidates in the upcoming election while they are subject to an ongoing national Green Party disciplinary process.” Both candidates would still appear as Greens on the ballot papers. The withdrawal was the second such announcement in days — the party had already pulled its support for Blakelaw and Cowgate candidate Tina Ion and launched an “urgent review” of its vetting process — and national leader Zack Polanski, visiting Newcastle, said he condemned “whenever there has been any antisemitism,” calling the issue personal as “someone who is Jewish.”

At the election on 7 May 2026, Brookes was not among the winners. In Manor Park the three incumbent Liberal Democrats were returned — Greg Stone with 1,691 votes, Doreen Huddart with 1,654 and Deborah Burns with 1,616 — while Brookes finished fourth with 780 votes (22.5%), ahead of his Green running mates Nathan Evans (757) and Mica Hind (697). None of the Greens came close to a seat.

Current Status #

Brookes was not elected to Newcastle City Council, and with the result his candidacy — and the disciplinary process attached to it — receded from the news. At the time his endorsement was withdrawn he was subject to an ongoing national Green Party disciplinary process; unlike his fellow withdrawn candidate Suleman, Brookes was not elected, so no question of sitting as an independent councillor arises for him. The posts attributed to his account were reported by the BBC and Local Democracy Reporting Service as allegations of antisemitism; no court ruling or regulatory finding on them has been reported. Because he was a candidate rather than an officeholder, his public profile beyond the election remains limited, and no further public statement from him was reported in the coverage.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The immediate impact was political and reputational: a local party that had selected him for a winnable-if-long-shot ward publicly disowned him two days before the vote, and he went into polling day as a Green candidate his party had refused to endorse. The episode made him one of the named faces of the 2026 antisemitism row that forced the Newcastle Greens into an urgent review of their candidate vetting and drew national leader Zack Polanski into an apology-and-defence exercise during a local campaign. For a former doctor entering public life, the coverage attached the allegations to his professional title — “Dr Brookes” — permanently in the public record. With no council seat and no reported follow-up role in politics, his candidacy stands in the record as an example of the 2026 pattern in which parties pulled support from candidates mid-campaign over resurfaced social-media posts, leaving those candidates on the ballot with their names still attached to a party that had withdrawn its backing.