The race for selection to the top Labour target of Kensington, the fifth most marginal seat in the 2019 election, has generated widespread discontent about externally imposed candidates, with much ire focussed on Mete ‘Iron Man’ Coban.
The local party wants a local candidate and Mete is Hackney Labour, with no links to Kensington. The perception is that he’s being elbowed in by senior Labour figures, including Sadiq Khan. He’s clearly learnt from showbiz Sadiq’s emphasis on image over substance…
One local frontrunner is Emma Dent Coad, who co-conspirators will remember as the former Corbynista MP. Despite only serving for two years, she made quite the impression with offensive, inflammatory and outright conspiratorial antics. No doubt Sir Keir would rather keep her away from Westminster. Guido isn’t surprised she’s a favourite of the Royal Borough’s champagne socialists…
Local councillors are publicly conflicted over the increasingly febrile selection battle, with one saying they “will accept no substitutes” for Dent Coad and another criticising Dent Coad supporters for trying to “split labour”. The Labour left were all for entryism, not so much now it’s working against them…
The crowded pack contains a number of other curious characters. Joe Powell is a former US lobbyist leaning heavily on his Obama connections. While Salman Shaikh boasts of serving as an advisor to a Qatari Sheikha on his CV. Irrespective of which candidate wins, the losers will be Kensington voters.
The Tory victory in Kensington was one of the many shock election results last night, and clearly came as much as a shock to incumbent Labour MP Emma Dent Coad who only hours before losing took to the airwaves to preemptively thank her LibDem opponent Sam Gyimah for splitting the vote and allowing her in.
Ironically Sam did split the vote, just in the Tories’ favour…
Emma Dent Coad has come out swinging after being reported to the police by democracy campaigner Stuart Coster over her election expenses, telling the Standard: “These entirely baseless allegations make the erroneous assumption that one has to spend a lot of money to win an election”, and adding that she fought the seat “from my kitchen table with loads of volunteers”. Guido hopes she thought that line through…
This is Dent Coad’s election communication for the 2017 election. The imprint is personal to Dent Coad locally (not the national party), the content is fully local and can’t be considered national costs, yet the imprint refers to the printer “Sterling Press Ltd” which appears nowhere on the list of suppliers of her “Unsolicited material to electors”. A Labour source says Dent Coad declared a payment for her election communication to the Labour Party, which was then centrally paid to Sterling Press, in accordance with electoral law.
The leaflet also invites readers to order a poster (which a Labour source says was a Labour poster and therefore national spend), quotes a mobile phone number and refers to a web address – the costs for none of which during the regulated period are included in her return. Did she really only spend five grand on her entire election campaign?
This will be worth watching… Top Corbynista Emma Dent Coad has been reported to the police over apparent irregularities in her election expenses return. Respected democracy campaigner Stuart Coster, whose previous work led the cops to find ex-LibDem MP Sarah Olney had committed a criminal offence over her election expenses, has analysed documents from the Kensington MP. He says she declared a campaign spend of just £5,446.53, extraordinarily low given the spending limit was more than £45,000…
Dent Coad claims she spent ‘NIL’ on “Accommodation and administration” (no office, phone, printers, paper, other stationery?) and only £200 on one member of staff doing ‘social media’. Coster’s analysis suggests she didn’t even declare her official election communication leaflet.
The Met Police Special Enquiry Team are understood to be completing an initial assessment. Dent Coad has a majority of 20. Interesting to see how this develops…
Emma Dent Coad does it again on the Daily Politics. Asked if she wants to remain in the single market, she said:
“Absolutely, always have done, yes”
And asked if she will back the EEA amendment to keep us in the single market, against the Labour whip?
“No, I won’t”
The people of Kensington are lucky to have her…
Labour MPs tonight joined a pro-Assad rally alongside protesters with flags, hats and scarves bearing the face of the Syrian tyrant. Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon, Chris Williamson, Emma Dent Coad and Lloyd Russell-Moyle were among those present at this evening’s Stop the War demo at Parliament Square. Williamson told an audience waving pro-Corbyn placards and communist flags that there was no evidence for the Douma chemical attack and that Assad had no motive to carry it out. Echoing Kremlin talking points, Williamson said:
“Why would the Assad regime at this stage of the appalling conflict in Syria, where he’s virtually won the battle for Eastern Ghouta, launch a chemical weapons attack when it would be bound to bring on the wrath of the West? … The motive is questionable, the evidence – where is the evidence? It just isn’t there. And it’s no coincidence, it seems to me, that on the day before the OPCW inspectors were due to start their inspection, these air strikes took place. What is going on? There are very serious questions, it seems to me, that need to be answered.”
One Assad supporter told Guido said the Syrian leader had not done anything illegal and that it was the UK parliament that was acting illegally. He added his message to Jeremy Corbyn was “well done”.
Corbyn’s Labour…
