The barrister who worked as an independent adviser on Labour’s disciplinary processes has been selected as the party’s parliamentary candidate for the Cities of London and Westminster, a key marginal seat.
Gordon Nardell QC was picked by a panel composed of representatives from Labour’s ruling body the national executive committee (NEC) after the previous candidate, Steven Saxby, withdrew after being suspended by the party.
Mr Nardell – a former Southwark councillor – quit his role as the party's new in-house counsel to oversee the disciplinary process on cases relating to antisemitism in July.
His appointment sparked anger after it emerged he had said he shared the same views as Jeremy Corbyn on Israel and that he was a member of the Labour Representation Committee, which has attacked allegations of antisemitism.
The Jewish Labour Movement said his selection in Westminter, where he will face Lib Dem candidate Chuka Umunna, was “shameles but unsurprising.”
Concern was also raised over the selection of Charlotte Nichols in the safe Warrington North seat.
In 2018 she wrote a piece for the JC saying she was glad that Mr Corbyn had attended a Seder organised by the anti-Zionist Jewdas group. She was chosen to replace retiring Helen Jones MP, who had a majority of 9,582 in 2017.
Kim Johnson, the local party black members’ officer, was chosen to replace Dame Louise Ellman as Labour’s parliamentary candidate in Liverpool Riverside after the Jewish MP quit in protest at Mr Corbyn’s failure to tackle antisemitism.
