City A.M. alleges Sangeeta Siddhu-Robb “bought her way in" to Lib Dem London mayoral election

From City A.M. this evening:

Sangeeta Siddhu-Robb, a millionaire businesswoman, was yesterday forced to drop out of the race to be the Liberal Democrats’ [London] mayoral candidate, after it was revealed she had delivered a public antisemitic tirade in 1997. ...

Liberal Democrat insiders have said Siddhu-Robb was chosen for the party’s shortlist for her potential to inject the party with sorely needed funding, meaning she effectively "bought her way in".

This confirms my view that the unsuitability of Siddhu-Robb as a candidate should have been revealed before her name reached the selection committee.

The report goes on to quote someone from Siobhan Benita's campaign - she recently stood down as the Lib Dem mayoral candidate and resigned from the party.

Its source says a large reason behind Benita’s decision was because the party was

"skewing its process of choosing candidates so they can get funds in” with Siddhu-Robb being a prime example.

"We were introduced to Geeta [Siddhu-Robb] as a donor of the party and someone from that wing,” they said.

"They wanted her to be a candidate so she could bring in money and wealthy connections, but there wasn’t proper scrutiny of her. 

"There’s just a serious lack of professionalism."