Why did Labour lose two of the three seats in Leicester in the middle of a landslide?

Leicester was an exception at last year's general election. Labour lost two of the city's three seats - one to the Conservatives and one to an Independent.

Alistair Jones. associate professor in politics at De Montfort University, looks at those results and at Leicester politics in general in the current issue of Liberator:

All three Leicester parliamentary constituencies have been treated akin to personal fiefdoms by previous Labour MPs, going back to the 1980s and 1990s. Consequently, the central and regional party had held little sway. In 2023 and 2024, the central Labour Party decided to reassert its authority, regardless of the short-term electoral cost. 

Leicester may be one city but it has three parliamentary constituencies which rarely communicate with each other, even – or is it especially – when all three MPs come from the same party. That local infighting has left a rather nasty legacy for the Labour Party, which is being exploited and exacerbated with allegations of racism. 

To read his article, download the current Liberator (issue 427) from the magazine's website - there's no charge.

I'm far too modest to point out that, in November 2023, I wrote:

The Conservatives have been gaining ground in local elections in this part of the city, which means that the seat [Leicester East] is less safe for Labour than it looks on paper. And that means the question of whether Vaz, Webbe or both of them will stand as an Independent at the next election really matters.

De Montfort University expert tips Lib Dems to win Leicester East

If there is a seat where anything could happen on Thursday, it's Leicester East. There, two former Labour MPs for the patch (Keith Vaz and Claudia Webbe) are taking on the party's official candidate, while the Conservatives, after recent promising local election results, seem to have blown things by selecting an unimpressive candidate at the last minute.

But, quoted in a comprehensive feature about the contest on the Great Central Gazette site, Alistair Jones, associate professor in politics at De Montfort University, says:

This constituency will be tight. There are ten candidates, including two ex-Labour MPs for Leicester East, the actual Labour candidate, a Conservative and an ex-Conservative standing, as well as Reform UK. 

This fight is not just Labour vs Conservative, but it is also about Keith Vaz and his desire to return to frontline politics. The result is likely to be too close to call. Expect demand for recounts. Zuffar Haq, Liberal Democrats, will squeak through on a minuscule majority.

And it could happen. Zuffar is an experienced candidate with a strong record of campaigning across the city.

Reece Stafferton wrote a Liberal England guest post about the plans for the Great Central Gazette a couple of years ago.

Keith Vaz returns under the One Leicester banner

To no one's great surprise, Keith Vaz has announced he is to fight his old seat of Leicester East at the general election.

Vaz represented Leicester East from 1987 to 2019. but lost the Labour whip and was suspended from the Commons for six months following a scandal involving male prostitutes cocaine and industrial washing machines. He did not stand at the 2019 general election.

If you have a free evening, it's worth reading the Controversies section of Vaz's Wikipedia entry.

Vaz will stand under the One Leicester banner, which is used by dissident Labour people protesting against the hegemony in the city of the elected mayor Peter Soulsby. Vaz's candidacy will do nothing for their credibility.

Vaz will be one of two former Labour members for the seat fighting Leicester East this time. Claudia Webbe, a Corbynite who was parachuted in following Vaz's demise and elected in 2019, was later convicted of harassment and no longer has the Labour whip herself. She will stand as an Independent.

This is an area where the Conservatives made gains in the city council elections last time, but they have only just selected a candidate. And do not underestimate the excellent Liberal Democrat candidate, Zuffar Haq.

Zuffar Haq to fight Leicester East for the Lib Dems

Britain's wackiest seat is probably Leicester East. It's represented by Claudia Webbe, who was parachuted in by the Corbynite high command in time for the 2019 election and then thrown out of the party after being convicted of harassment.

It's rumoured that both she and another dosgraced former Labour MP for the seat, Keith Vaz, will stand here at the next election.

Labour will be counting on retaking Leicester East, yet its constituency party was suspended last year and it has started losing council by-elections to the Conservatives here.

At least Leicester East now has one credible candidate. Zuffar Haq, who has stood here in Harborough four times, has been adopted by the Liberal Democrats. He won one of the seats in the Evington ward, which is in Leicester East, from Labour at the last council elections.

Talking to the Leicester Mercury, Zuffar said:

"For as long as I’ve lived in Leicester, we’ve been a community that works together and stands together. I, like many of us, have friends and colleagues of different faiths and backgrounds. I want to bring our communities back together again.

"We’ve been taken for granted for too long. Both Labour in the Town Hall and the Conservatives in Westminster have failed Leicester time and time again. Whether it’s supporting the local NHS or dealing with the cost-of-living crisis, I want to offer Leicester residents a chance of real change."

New Labour candidate for Leicester East stands down as a deputy mayor in London

Labour have chosen Rajesh Agrawal, one of Sadiq Khan's deputy mayors in London, to fight Leicester East at the next general election.

This is the seat currently represented by Claudia Webbe as an Independent. She was elected for Labour but removed from the Labour Party after being convicted of harassment.

Both Webbe and Keith Vaz, the Labour MP for Leicester East before her, are thought to be considering standing in the constituency as Independents next time round.

Today comes the inevitable news that Agrawal has stood down as Sadiq Khan's deputy mayor for business.

In the Leicester East selection, Rishi Madlani, a Camden councillor and the only other name on the shortlist, made much of his connections with Leicester. I've not heard any such claims made on Agrawal's behalf.

Labour names short list of two London politicians for troubled Leicester East seat

Leicester East has not been lucky in its choice of Labour MPs, as the disgraced Keith Vaz gave way to the disgraced Claudia Webbe.

Now, reports the Leicester Mercury, the party has named a short list of two from which its candidate at the next election.

The two are Rajesh Agrawal, who is is the deputy mayor of London for business under Sadiq Khan, and Rishi Madlani, a Camden councillor who claims strong links to Leicester.

The Conservatives have been gaining ground in local elections in this part of the city, which means that the seat is less safe for Labour than it looks on paper. And that means the question of whether Vaz, Webbe or both of them will stand as an Independent at the next election really matters.

Sir Peter Soulsby, Leicester's elected mayor, was quoted in the Guardian the other day as saying he expected both to stand against the official Labour candidate:

"We could well have two disgraced former Labour party candidates standing in the seat. People are saying that this is a real possibility and it might split the vote and let the Tories in. We as a party need to have a good and credible candidate in place as soon as possible,” he said.

"Keith has been a cancer in the political body of Leicester for decades and like many others in the Labour party in the city I am relieved that the party has realised and has had the courage to cut him out.

"It has been obvious for months that he is planning to put himself up as an independent candidate at the next general election. Although he lives in Stanmore, he has had himself installed as the so-called honorary president [of the CLP] and has continued to exercise absolute control over the party in that part of the city."

Questioned by the Mercury, Vaz talked about standing as mayor of Leicester after Soulsby retires, but made it sound like a dig at him.

And Webbe left the door to standing as an Independent so wide open - "I will never abandon my home community and constituency of Leicester East" - that it makes you shiver in the draught.