A Labour MP who was removed from the shadow cabinet for giving an interview on a picket line without permission has put out a searing statement following his deselection as a Labour election candidate. Sam Tarry will not contest the Ilford South seat at the next general election, and has hit out at the "political circus" of his deselection and cast doubt over the result.
Mr Tarry, an ally of Jeremy Corbyn, clashed with current Labour leader Keir Starmer over whether ministers should publicly appear on picket lines. After giving an interview on the RMT's picket line in London, against the party leader's advice, Mr Tarry was removed from the frontbench for breaching collective responsibility rules.
He was voted out at a meeting on Monday night in favour of Jas Athwal, the leader of Redbridge Council, by a margin of 499 to 361. Mr Athwal said it was a "real honour" to be selected and will contest the seat at the next General Election.
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In a statement, Mr Tarry said: "I am utterly crestfallen by the result in the Ilford South selection last night. Not for myself, but for the good people of Ilford who deserve better than to have been at the centre of a manufactured political circus.
"I am extremely concerned about the result, which does not reflect the feeling my campaigners met on the ground talking day in day out to members, or the extensive meticulous data we gathered on the campaign. I am taking some time to consider what’s next, but in order to be assured of the integrity of the result I am asking the party to share with me the full information of who cast electronic votes, by what method, and when they were cast, which I understand is available in the ‘anonyvoter’ system."
A Labour source told the Mirror that Mr Tarry had "gone full Trump" and said "He's asking to see the votes. Democracies have secret ballots for a reason."
Mr Athwal was suspended just before the party's 2019 selection, but had his name cleared by an investigation. He thanked his party for "supporting me through thick and thin" following the result.
When Mr Tarry was sacked from the shadow cabinet, a spokesperson for the Labour Party said: "The Labour Party will always stand up for working people fighting for better pay, terms and conditions at work.
"This isn’t about appearing on a picket line. Members of the frontbench sign up to collective responsibility. That includes media appearances being approved and speaking to agreed frontbench positions. As a government in waiting, any breach of collective responsibility is taken extremely seriously and for these reasons Sam Tarry has been removed from the frontbench."
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