MPs criticise “appalling” move to block councillor from standing to be MP

MPs have described as “appalling” the decision to exclude Maurice Mcleod from the longlist in the selection process to determine the next Labour parliamentary candidate in Camberwell and Peckham.

In a statement released by Mcleod on Saturday, the Labour councillor said he was “blocked by the party machine”. He described the move as an “unfair decision taken behind closed doors, which denies local members the opportunity to vote for me”.

“This comes despite huge support locally and despite receiving nominations from two trade unions, which according to the party rules should have guaranteed me a place on the longlist,” he wrote.

“The reasons given are as frivolous as once liking a tweet by Caroline Lucas. This was plainly a factional intervention.”

The exclusion of Mcleod, who is a racial justice campaigner and former editor of The Voice, Britain’s leading Black newspaper, comes amid concern over the number of Black men selected to stand for Labour.

The parliamentary hopeful was reportedly blocked from standing as the Labour candidate for historic social media activity, including liking a tweet by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas before he became a councillor.

Frontbench Labour MPs have shared a platform in the past with Lucas, including the current Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Labour leader Keir Starmer when campaigning against Brexit.

Mcleod said the contest had been conducted “respectfully and positively” between the candidates, adding: “I wish those who have been allowed to put themselves in front of the members all the very best.”

John McDonnell, who had backed Mcleod, said “this decision to block Maurice from standing is shaming”, adding: “If those who made this appalling decision don’t appreciate your steadfast work for your local community and your decades of courageous anti racist campaigning, I want you to know Maurice that I and thousands more certainly do.”

Mcleod had also received endorsements from MPs Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Diane Abbott. Ribeiro-Addy tweeted: “Solidarity Maurice. We are a democratic socialist party and the members of Camberwell and Peckham should have been given the opportunity to decide.”

Labour MP for Vauxhall Florence Eshalomi, who is also currently serving as the parliamentary private secretary to Angela Rayner, told Mcleod: “There are some good candidates standing and I think that you should have been allowed to put yourself in front of members so that they decide.”

MPs Zarah Sultana and Nadia Whittome also expressed support for McLeod after the decision to exclude the candidate was revealed.

Also commenting on the decision, a spokesperson for Momentum said: “The Labour machine’s purging of socialist parliamentary candidates is out of control.

“They are disregarding the rights of trade unions and local parties, and they have now unjustly blocked a prominent and respected anti-racist activist from even being considered by members as a Labour MP for Camberwell and Peckham. We call on all parts of the labour movement to oppose this anti-democratic and deeply disturbing behaviour.”