Danny Beales / Boris Johnson
(Picture: Danny Beales / AP Photo/Matt Dunham)The Labour candidate who will take on Boris Johnson in Uxbridge and South Ruislip at the next election says a period spent being homeless as a teenager shaped his politics. Danny Beales, 34, who is head of policy at a charity, was selected as the Labour candidate for the west London seat this week. Johnson has been the MP there since 2015.
Beales was born in the area but moved in with his grandmother in Northampton as a teenager when his mother lost her job. They later lived in hostels for around six months. His “grades took a hit” as there was nowhere to do homework, but he became the first in his family to go to university. Beales is currently a councillor in Camden but plans to move back to the constituency.
“I’ve always felt really fortunate and been very aware that I’m the exception rather than the rule” Beales told us. “Most people in that situation don’t get that break and their ongoing reality is that kind of struggle, poverty, homelessness. That’s what I’ve kind of focussed my career and politics on addressing”
As Labour have gone ahead in the polls, the seat has become a target to win from the Tory party. Beales says if they want a majority, Uxbridge is “the kind of seat that we’ll need to take if we’re going to have a Labour Government”. Johnson won a majority of around 7,000 in 2019.
Beales said many in the local area have criticised the former PM for being more interested in national than local issues. But he still expects a “hotly fought contest”. “You’re not just going to sleepwalk into being the MP,” he said. Talking about the contrast between him and Johnson, he said voters can expect fewer surprising photo moments, in particular referencing the time in 2012 when the then mayor got stuck on a zipwire. “I’ll be keeping my feet on the ground in more ways than one” Beales said.
The Labour selection process was upset when the selection committee was disbanded, to some confusion. Beales beat a 22-year-old hopeful called Connor Liberty to the role, joking that his rival made him feel old. “I’ve always been the young one in politics”, he said.
Royal Palaces coffers in red zone
Historic Royal Palaces, which looks after the Tower of London, above, as well as Hampton Court and Kensington Palace, is in financial trouble. The charity’s latest accounts show a budget deficit of around £7m for last year, and most reserves have been spent. They had a tough pandemic, and visitors have not fully returned: in the year before Covid there were 4.8m visits but only 1.5m in 2021-2022. Perhaps a drop in international tourists played a part. There is one hopeful sign: more people are becoming members.
Chicken Shop Dates finale will leave fans broken hearted
INTERVIEWER Amelia Dimoldenberg has made a New Year’s resolution early, pledging to stop making her hit show Chicken Shop Dates. Her series of awkward ‘dates’ with celebrities in London’s fried chicken shops featured a rap by Louis Theroux that went viral this year. “My ambitions are much larger,” she tells GQ. “The shop must close down at some point.” Haute cuisine next?
Third time’s a Khan
SOME LABOUR MPs may be relieved after Sadiq Khan said he will run for a third term as Mayor. There had been rumours Khan could try to unseat a sitting London MP, such as Rosena Allin-Khan or Siobhain McDonagh, to be in a Labour cabinet.
Khan might have to face Jeremy Corbyn, who is said to mulling over an independent bid. The two have history: Khan helped elect Corbyn as Labour leader but later disavowed him.
Willesden takes centre stage
AUTHOR Zadie Smith was at a press night for her play The Wife of Willesden at the Kiln Theatre in Kilburn last night. She was joined by artistic director Indhu Rubasingham and poet Benjamin Zephaniah. The show is a modern telling of The Wife of Bath, one of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
Smith once dreamed of being a singer (she has a celebrated voice), but had to settle for being a very successful writer instead. She has said that creating the play has helped fulfil her dreams of being a performer. Leading lady Clare Perkins and fellow actor Fiona Shaw went as well. A hit in the capital, it transfers to the US in February.
In Knightsbridge, influencers Brittan Byrd, Jawahir Khalifa and Issy Francis-Baum gathered at the Ping Culture X Prime Time Christmas party.
