Sir Keir Starmer was today challenged over claims Labour has pulled the plug on its general election campaign in Clacton against Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Local party members vented their fury as they accused party bosses of ordering their Clacton candidate, Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, to campaign elsewhere.
The 27-year-old works for Labour’s external relations team and made headlines earlier this month as he was dubbed the ‘best dressed candidate in living memory’.
Pictures of Mr Owusu-Nepaul on the campaign trail – including an encouter with Mr Farage – went viral as social media users praised his sartorial style.
But, according to the Guardian, the attention he was getting rankled with officials in Labour HQ as it was ‘distracting’ from Sir Keir’s own campaign.
Mr Owusu-Nepaul is said to have since been ‘seconded’ to the West Midlands.
It has also been claimed that local activists in Clacton are banned from printing leaflets, using campaign software or having access to the campaign’s social media.
Local Labour members vented their fury as they accused party bosses of ordering their Clacton candidate, Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, to campaign elsewhere
Pictures of Mr Owusu-Nepaul on the campaign trail – including an encouter with his rival Nigel Farage – went viral as social media users praised his sartorial style
The 27-year-old works for Labour’s external relations team and has been dubbed the ‘best dressed candidate in living memory’
According to the Guardian, the attention Mr Owusu-Nepau was getting rankled with officials in Labour HQ as it was ‘distracting’ from Sir Keir Starmer’s own campaign
Mr Owusu-Nepaul is said to have since been ‘seconded’ to the West Midlands to the anger of local activists
Sir Keir today denied Labour had scaled back its campaign in Clacton and said his party was ‘fighting everywhere’
Mr Farage is bidding to win the Clacton seat from the Conservatives , who won the constituency with a majority of nearly 25,000 votes in 2019
A campaign source told the newspaper: ‘At one point [Jovan] was getting more retweets than Keir Starmer.
‘The officials were furious with him and said he was distracting [from] Starmer’s campaign.’
Mr Farage is bidding to win the Clacton seat from the Conservatives, who won the constituency with a majority of nearly 25,000 votes in 2019.
Labour are said to have deemed the seat ‘unwinnable’ having won little more than 15 per cent of the vote at the last general election.
But Sir Keir today denied Labour had scaled back its campaign in Clacton.
He told reporters: ‘We are fighting everywhere, including in Clacton, and we are deploying our resources across the country, including in Clacton.
‘Yes we want to take the fight to the Tories and Reform wherever they are, we are not backing down in Clacton, we are not backing down anywhere across the country.’
Asked if activists were allowed to campaign in Clacton, Sir Keir said: ‘The chief of operations tells people where we most want them to go and fight, but we have got to fight in Clacton, of course we have.
‘We have got an excellent candidate there, he actually works for me, he is fantastic, so I’m very supportive of him and the campaign that he is running, and he is doing something incredible in Clacton which is being that positive candidate in difficult circumstances.’
According to the Guardian, Tracey Lewis, a Labour activist from Clacton, quit the Constituency Labour Party (CLP) after Mr Owusu-Nepaul was sent to campaign in the West Midlands.
She said: ‘I’m a lifelong Labour supporter and will continue to be even though I’ve quit my place on the CLP, but if they can’t put a fight up against Nigel Farage, then who are they fighting for?’
Chris Bee, another member of the local party, said: ‘Our candidate gets some real traction and with a week-and-a-bit to go they pull him out and will not allow him back into the constituency to fight for a place in this area’s most important election in a generation. This is absolutely disgusting on every level.’
In a letter to Labour’s general secretary, David Evans, seen by the newspaper, Martin Suker, Owusu-Nepaul’s election agent said: ‘Reform UK stands for everything we the Labour party stand against… and I’m struggling to come to terms that it appears the party doesn’t even want to be seen to be putting up a fight.
‘Jovan was told [by an official] to never come back to Clacton, and yesterday, was instructed to move to the West Midlands region.
‘I’m concerned there will be follow-on questions: members, supporters and more worryingly donators will be both angry and upset that it appears like the party that they have a great hope in isn’t doing anything to show a battle front to what many see as a catastrophe not only for Clacton, but for the parliamentary system entirely.’
Mr Suker said the local party had requests for new leaflets turned down and access to the canvassing system removed.
‘Now I have no candidate to put in front of the people for them to see us at least trying to ‘Save Clacton’,’ he added. ‘This could be very damaging to the party’s image.’
A Labour party spokesperson said: ‘We are working hard to deliver as many Labour MPs as possible in the general election and our campaigners are bringing our message of change to people across the country.’
