Labour candidate for London Assembly suspended over alleged antisemitism

Preston Tabois, a Haringey Labour councillor and Momentum-backed candidate for the London Assembly, has been suspended by the party over a complaint relating to alleged antisemitism.

Tabois was selected by party members in February this year, ahead of the London Assembly elections that will now take place in May 2021. He placed fourth on the London-wide list.

But it is understood that Labour has suspended him after Guido Fawkes alerted the party to social media posts, which appear to show the councillor sharing an article about antisemitism.

The news piece apparently posted by Tabois six years ago reports on a UKIP candidate claiming that “Jews murdered each other in the Holocaust in masterplan to create State of Israel”.

Underneath the shared article, Tabois appears to have commented on Facebook: “You’re not wrong brother P!”, according to the Guido screengrab.

The other post sent by Guido to Labour seems to show Tabois saying Zionist “conspiracy theories can be used as an educational tool to understand and relate to how governments are run [and] financed”.

Asked for comment, a Labour spokesperson said: “The Labour Party takes all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.”

While the party cannot comment on individual cases for confidentiality and data protection reasons, LabourList understands that Tabois is administratively suspended pending investigation.

Suspended members are not able to stand as Labour candidates in elections. The next candidate on the list – Murad Qureshi – is expected to replace Tabois unless he is unsuspended before May.

Preston Tabois has been contacted by LabourList.