Labour activist who questioned Jo Cox's killing dumped as parliamentary candidate
2 min read
Aspiring Labour MP Mandy Richards has been dumped as the party’s parliamentary candidate in Worcester.
As first revealed by PoliticsHome, Labour’s ruling body has today confirmed that it will not endorse Ms Richard's selection by local members, after a series of embarrassing incidents from her past emerged.
Ms Richards claimed the murder of MP Jo Cox in 2016 was “conveniently bereft of evidence” and also questioned whether last year’s Manchester Arena terror attack took place.
She has also been banned from bringing court actions without the permission of a judge, and alleged that MI5, MI6, the Metropolitan Police, the Army, Thames Water, the Royal Mail, Hackney Council, her GP and others were harassing her.
The decision to ditch Ms Richards as a candidate was taken last night at a special panel of Labour’s National Executive Committee, PoliticsHome understands.
A Labour spokesman confirmed the ruling this morning in statement, saying: “The NEC has not endorsed Mandy Richards as the Labour Party candidate for Worcester.”
A source told the Mirror Ms Richards had "displayed a lack of judgement that is not compatible with the high standards the Party expects of candidates and elected representatives.
Adding: “The selection will be re-run."
The party has been under pressure to act after Ms Richard’s controversial remarks were revealed last weekend.
Reacting to her comments on Ms Cox, Labour backbencher John Woodcock tweeted: “We would be outraged if any other party picked a candidate who said this about the murder of our friend.
“We should care even more about getting our own house in order.”
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
