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.
Bring back Peter Bruinvels, please.
ReplyDeleteIndependent candidates have a phenomenal record of picking up seats in General Elections. Will Keith Vaz prove to be as successful as Dominic Grieve, David Gauke, Anne Milton or Claire Wright?
ReplyDeleteOnly time will tell ;)
I'm saying no, but with the Labour vote potentially badly split, anything could happen.
ReplyDelete