White Labour MP hopeful said he had ‘worst tan possible for a black man’

Darren Rodwell, pictured in 2017, was cleared of wrongdoing by Labour’s NEC and said it was an ‘awful thing for me to say’. Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

A white council leader who once joked that he had “the worst tan possible for a black man” has been selected to stand as a Labour MP.

Darren Rodwell, the leader of Barking and Dagenham London borough council, fought off selection competition from councillor Josie Channer, a black councillor who has previously run for selection near Bristol.