Guido wonders what deselected Labour MP and Angela Rayner’s “soulmate” Sam Tarry would make of the candidate replacing him. Jas Athwal, candidate for Ilford South and Labour council leader in Redbridge, enjoys a more-than-extensive property portfolio. In addition to his home Athwal owns a whopping 15 extra properties in Redbridge alone. Committed Corbynite Tarry will be seething…
Labour has been murky on their plans for second homeowners and is facing high pressure to single out additional properties for extra revenue. It has not ruled out stamp duty hikes. Meanwhile, Welsh Labour is pushing ahead with its plans to address “property wealth” with satellite-assisted council tax hikes. Athwal is friends with Labour frontbench star Wes Streeting. Will the Shadow Health Secretary defend his property magnate chum against Rayner’s faction of tax-hike fanatics?
Sam Tarry, Angela Rayner’s “soul-mate” and deselected MP has announced he won’t be running as a Labour MP this morning. He’s waved the white flag on trying be selected – his fight “till the very last to be a Labour candidate in this election” over. Even Rayner couldn’t make Starmer back down on this one. Though Guido’s sure he’ll find some comfort in the Deputy Leader, with whom he’s reportedly getting cosy.
His two-year-long battle against Labour HQ for what his allies call “dirty tricks” in the selection process appears not to be over. The Corbynista signs off his statement with a rather ominous line: “My work for the people who need that transformative Labour Government is not done”. Sam’s not a bad looking bloke, has he thought of getting into the family business?
Read Tarry’s statement in full below:
Eagle-eyed observers will have noticed that not only did Angela Rayner brave the cameras and get a standing ovation from Labour activists at the official launch of Sadiq Khan’s mayoral campaign, her supposedly ex-boyfriend Sam Tarry was there too. Tarry tweeted that he was “Incredibly proud to join Sadiq Khan and London Labour MPs, London Assembly Members, and Councillors to launch Sadiq’s brilliant pledges that will help millions of Londoners, from children just born to the oldest Londoners.”
Sam Tarry, who is rumoured to be back with Angela Rayner, is well connected to Sadiq Khan. Now deselected as an MP, socialist Tarry is said to have his eye on being the next Deputy Mayor for Transport under Sadiq in City Hall. This might make sense given Sam’s close links to the left-wing transport union TSSA. Tarry would be expected to liaise with the unions based on his close relationship with them. Given the left-wing London Labour Party’s fondness for selecting candidates at odds with the national Labour Party’s leadership, some say Sam fancies his chances running for Mayor after Khan. Got to admire the chutzpah.
UPDATE: A London Labour source gets in touch to say ”Sadiq has an excellent Deputy Mayor for Transport and this is simply not true.” Not true yet.
Former Shadow Transport Minister and deselected Labour MP Sam Tarry is ramping up his two-year-long battle against Labour HQ for what his allies call “dirty tricks” in the selection process. Tarry has now submitted an official complaint to the party. At least his “soulmate” Angela Rayner supports him…
The Tarry campaign alleges that a highly suspicious number of people were not living at the addresses that they were registered to on the membership system when they voted to deselect him 58:42. This comes as the Met Police’s Cyber Crime unit begins an investigation into Labour’s chaotic Croydon selection process, which uses the same system. Anonyvoter is designed by Maddie Henson, a Labour wannabe London assembly candidate…
Aggrieved Labour staffers say the vast majority of candidates are stitched up while a central Labour official tells Guido, predictably: “Cranks claim conspiracy. Would you believe it.” Tarry might have to take this further than Labour’s complaints department if he wants to get anywhere…
Sam Tarry’s former Constituency Labour Party Secretary and longtime ally Syed Siddiqi had a case against him for harassing multiple Labour councillors in Ilford dropped by the CPS. Syed will now be able to legitimately harass them via the ballot box. The self-proclaimed “Bangladeshi Socialist” has announced that he has joined the Green Party and intends to become their candidate in the constituency:
It’s official! I am delighted to announce that I intend to stand as a candidate at the next GE and will seek @TheGreenParty nomination to be their next PPC for Ilford South constituency.
I hope I can count on your support.
— Syed Siddiqi (@SiddiqiSyed) February 22, 2024
Sam Tarry previously endorsed him despite, according to Dame Margaret Hodge MP, him being an associate of expelled Labour member and antisemite Jackie Walker and the disgraced former Labour MP Chris Williamson, whom Siddiqi has defended in the past over allegations of antisemitism according to a report by the Campaign Against Antisemitism. He was subsequently suspended from the party amidst allegations of intimidation. His switching of party doesn’t mean he will be standing against Angela Rayner’s ex because Sam Tarry was deselected from the seat. This won’t end well…
Angela Rayner has broken her longstanding silence over her boyfriend Sam Tarry’s deselection as the Labour candidate for Ilford South. At a fundraising dinner last night in Ilford, Rayner poured her heart out for her partner and “soulmate“, claiming she “hope[s] he continues” as a Labour MP and that it would be “a tragedy” to lose him:
“We’ve got to challenge ourselves, we’re a big Labour family, and like any family, we can fall out at times and have difference of opinions – but we’ve got to get rid of the Tories… Sam [Tarry] is one of the most kind-hearted, amazing individuals and he’s also my soulmate so… he’s a really good guy. And I actually think you’re incredibly lucky to have him as your MP because I get to see a lot of Sam, and I get to see a lot of behind the scenes, and I see how much he cares… I hope that he continues because it would be an absolute tragedy to lose someone like Sam as an MP.”
This is despite Jas Athwal, the man who beat Tarry to the selection as Labour’s Ilford South candidate, receiving the backing of Rayner’s Shadow Cabinet colleague Wes Streeting. Not to mention Tarry also calling in the lawyers against the party in an attempt to thwart his re-selection battle last year. When Tarry lost, his camp accused the Labour Party of “dirty tricks” and vote rigging. Does Angie endorse that too? Is she showing a bit of leg to the anti-Starmerites?
