London Labour Party overturns candidate following ‘rigged’ vote
The London Labour Party has overturned an election candidate following accusations of vote rigging.
MEP Robert Evans had been named Labour’s election candidate for Brent East at an unruly selection meeting last week.
However, his opponent, barrister Yasmin Qureshi, who lost by only two votes, called the result “rigged” and challenged the verdict.
She submitted a three-page dossier to the party, claiming that three postal votes were disallowed by local officials loyal to Mr Evans for no valid reason.
Pakistani-born Ms Qureshi, 40, has now been named as the Labour Party candidate for Brent East. She is a civil liberties expert who worked for the United Nations in Kosovo and could become Britain’s first Asian woman MP if she wins the north-west London seat
The Brent East seat was seized by Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Teather at a by-election last year when Mr Evans was the Labour candidate.
Ms Qureshi said she was “delighted” by the victory, which saw her winning at the final count by 114 votes to Mr Evans’ 113. Mr Evans said he was deeply disappointed by the result but added that it was time to move on and he would be supporting Ms Qureshi as Labour’s candidate.
A Labour spokesman said: “Given the close vote at the Brent East selection meeting last Thursday, the national executive was asked to review the process. It concluded that Yasmin Qureshi secured the most valid votes on the night, and therefore should be Labour’s candidate for Brent East.”
