The Londoner: Labour at war over Vaz's replacement

Labour’s selection of Islington councillor and Corbyn ally Claudia Webbe as its candidate in Leicester East to replace Keith Vaz has set off a firestorm among its own politicians and supporters. “Labour has perfected the stitch-up and lack of transparency to a fine art,” Navin Shah, a London Assembly member for Brent, said after claiming he had failed to be interviewed for the seat, despite having applied.

Webbe, who sits on Labour’s National Executive Committee, won the race in the safe seat on Monday. Vaz won in 2017 with a majority of more than 22,000. Labour is also under fire from Sundip Meghani, who lost out to Webbe in the selection. He said her win was “a slap in the face for the Indian community in Leicester and across Britain”. Labour Friends of India also issued a statement slamming the failure to select more Indian-heritage candidates across the country and expressed concerns about the party’s position on Kashmir.

Webbe, herself from Leicester, last night said she was a “part of Leicester’s rich diversity” and would “make a positive impact representing the good people of Leicester East”. But Shah told The Londoner this morning: “I was not going to stay quiet and speak out against the culture of stitch-ups I’ve experienced.”

Asked whether Webbe’s background should be a deciding factor in the selection process, Shah told The Londoner it mattered “in terms of representing what sections of diversity we have in the UK. Leicester East has the largest concentration of Gujarati people in the UK… there are enough Gujarati candidates who fit the bill surely.”

A Labour source defended Webbe this morning, saying: “Her knowledge of the constituency, her extensive experience as a councillor and as a campaigner for equality for all ethnic minority groups make her an excellent candidate.”

Shah, though, told The Londoner he felt “Labour has taken BAME community for granted for far too long”.

Meanwhile, Labour Friends of India said they would “not be commenting further until after the election”.

Another headache for Labour...

Battles that shape Roberts marriage

Andrew Roberts may be a consummate historian but his romantic sense is perhaps a little underdeveloped. He told an Intelligence Squared audience in Westminster last night about the first day of his honeymoon, when he took his wife to a military museum. “We’re in front of a formaldehyde, two-headed baby relating to the results of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War. And she said to me: ‘Darling, is there any chance that we could go to a beach at all? And I don’t mean Utah or Omaha.’”

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Lionel Barber, the outgoing FT editor, says Donald Trump intimidated him when he interviewed the US President in 2017. “It was like, I think I can say this, a bit like interviewing Tony Soprano on the Potomac,” Barber told the BBC’s Media Show, “The physical presence, the studied thuggery, intimidation... very narcissistic.”

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Greg Cook, Labour’s ex-polling guru who’s known as Mystic Greg, says “pretty much all the parties... have adopted a strategy which is not about inclusiveness” and are just drilling down into their “new core vote”. He tells Matt Forde’s podcast: “It’s a very funny election where nobody actually seems to want to be very popular.” They’re certainly succeeding.

Wild boys head to the Roundhouse

Last night the Duke of Cambridge hosted a gala for the 50th anniversary of Centrepoint, the youth homelessness charity he is patron of. Among the guests who gathered at the Roundhouse in Camden were presenter Claudia Winkleman, Strictly judge Shirley Ballas, model Lady Kitty Spencer, actor James Nesbitt and singer Ellie Goulding. The evening featured performances from Rita Ora and Duran Duran.

Over in Mayfair, guests flocked to Bulgari’s launch of its Give Hope campaign in collaboration with Save the Children. Erin O’Connor and Liam Payne with model girlfriend Maya Henry were among the supporters, who also witnessed the switching on of the Bulgari flagship store’s Christmas lights. It’s never too early…

Meanwhile, rapper Professor Green and singer Ella Eyre partied in the City at the launch party of 14 Hills restaurant, which overlooks London from 14 storeys up.

SW1A

Honours even at last night’s Idler of the Year Awards. Boris Johnson won Bad Grammarian of the Year. “In a letter to Brussels our Prime Minister misplaced an apostrophe,” Idler editor Tom Hodgkinson told the audience in Bloomsbury. Labour didn’t escape either: “We did invite John McDonnell but he told us it would seem too frivolous.” The shadow chancellor won a special Idler commendation for his proposal of a four-day week.

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We hear Sports minister Nigel Adams paid a recent luncheon visit to posh Chelsea watering hole Brinkley’s where he accidently poured a full bottle of red all over the table. Surely the Tories need to turn this city blue not red?

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Trainee news reporter Mike Bedigan was out talking to voters yesterday in Hertfordshire about David Gauke standing as an independent. He asked a woman whether she’d like to comment. She replied: “Well, I’m Mrs Gauke, so I probably shouldn’t...”

Kay? She’ll have you for Breakfast

The Londoner caught up with Sky’s Kay Burley at the Everywoman in Travel Awards in Canary Wharf yesterday where we learned that she had achieved her goal of ruffling political feathers with her new show Kay@Breakfast. Since she famously empty-chaired James Cleverly last week there has been a noticeable lack of Tory ministers willing to appear with her. Coincidence or strop? If Downing Street are waiting for an apology, they shouldn’t hold their breath. Despite the No 10 sangfroid, Burley’s audience figures are hotting up across all platforms. And the chair has become a bit of a national treasure.

Quote of the day

"Date on an ice rink? You’re already dumped."

Emilia Clarke says ice-skating is “100 per cent the worst thing about Christmas”