Former Kensington MP ‘blocked’ from running for seat by Labour
By Jacob Phillips, Local Democracy Reporter
Former Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad said she has been “blocked” from running to be MP again by her own party.
She claims Labour has stopped her from being on the shortlist to fight for her seat. It comes after she made comments on social media about her rivals, and the Royal Family.
The politician, who was an ally of Jeremy Corbyn and a member of the Socialist Campaign Group, was caught out when she was an MP for labelling London Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey a “token ghetto boy” and “scumbag”.
Ms Dent Coad also came under fire in 2017 for comments she made about the royals – in particular Prince Harry.
She was criticised by Labour and Tory MPs for saying Prince Harry “can’t actually fly a helicopter” – “he just sits there going ‘vroom vroom’.”
At the time she told the Huffington Post: “I’ve spoken five times at conference about the Grenfell fire, but this is all they are interested in.
“We should be allowed to have an opinion. Let’s have a proper debate about the Royal Family.”
The politician was elected just a week before the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people on June 14, 2017, and some campaigners have said they will “never vote Labour again” if Ms Dent Coad is ousted.
The Kensington constituency is one of the closest contested seats in the country. Ms Dent Coad won the seat by just 20 votes in 2017, before losing it to Tory MP Felicity Buchan by 150 votes in 2019.
Ms Dent Coad said in a statement on Twitter: “I am devastated that the Labour Party has blocked me from standing to once again represent my community in Parliament, the community I have spent the last 20 years of my life fighting for.
“At the same time, I am angry that local members and our local community in Kensington have been denied the opportunity to vote in a free and fair contest, which has been sacrificed for the sake of factional intrigue from Labour officials.”
She added: “If I have been outspoken in my politics, it is due to my passion and care for Kensington – for my neighbours and friends – and because of my burning desire to stamp out injustice and build a fairer, more equal society.”
MPs reacted to her post, and former Shadow Chancellor and Hayes MP John McDonnell said: “This is one of the most disgraceful acts I have witnessed in the 50 years I have been a member of the Labour Party.
“Emma was a wonderful local MP standing up for, supporting and comforting her constituents in the face of Grenfell. Labour’s NEC must reverse this decision.”
Ms Dent Coad is the third left wing Labour candidate in London to say they have been excluded from selection in the past week.
Pictured top: Former MP for Kensington, Emma Dent Coad (Picture: PA)
