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The leader of one of Labour’s biggest London councils faces a party investigation over allegations he tried to “cover up” a colleague’s death to avoid a by-election.

A former Labour staffer claims Brent chief Muhammed Butt told her to keep the councillor’s death secret to avoid the election, which sources claim was set to weaken his leadership.

The allegation, in an email leaked to the Standard, has been denied by Mr Butt, who insists it is part of a plot to topple him.

It comes before a crunch meeting tomorrow in which he is expected to face a challenge for the leadership from other Brent Labour members.

Councillor Tayo Oladapo suffered from a severe liver condition and was absent from meetings for months before dying on January 29. It took six weeks for the party to confirm his death, in which time most councillors believed him to be alive and even approved his allowances.

But a whistleblower has now claimed that Mr Butt did know, and asked her to enquire about the death while keeping it secret. In an email from her to other Brent Labour councillors she said “a young man’s death may well have been covered up by a senior politician”. She added that Mr Butt “appears to have misled both Brent council and Labour Party staff regarding his knowledge of this sad occurrence”.

She claimed that in a meeting in early March Mr Butt took her aside and told her he believed Mr Oladapo had been dead for a month.

According to her email, Mr Butt asked her to call the councillor’s sister on his behalf and urged her not to tell London Region Labour officials if she confirmed he had died.

She said Mr Butt “told me that he didn’t want a by-election to take place in Kilburn”.

When she reported the death to party officials she claims they told her Mr Butt had denied knowledge of it. The death was finally announced and a by-election held on May 5.

Party insiders said if it was won by an unsupportive candidate this left Mr Butt more vulnerable to a challenge. A challenge is expected at the Labour group’s AGM tomorrow.

Mr Butt said the claims were “wholly inaccurate”. But deputy council leader Michael Pavey, expected to be among those challenging Mr Butt, said the “extremely serious allegations” should be investigated.