Labour candidate pulls out from election race after sexual harassment allegation

A Labour candidate for a seat in east London has withdrawn from the general election following an allegation of sexual harassment.

Councillor Darren Rodwell, the leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, denied any wrongdoing as he said that he would not run in the election, to be held next month.

It comes a day after The Independent revealed Labour was investigating the allegations made against the Barking candidate by a party member on Friday to Labour’s complaints unit.

Mr Rodwell’s alleged victim said she met him for a coffee while at an event, believing the meeting was set up to discuss a development in Barking. Mr Rodwell has since said he has no recollection or record of such a meeting.

In the communication to the party, the complainant said: “After 10 to 15 minutes, he started asking personal questions which I was not happy to answer. He was ordering more drinks for himself. As I was obviously not happy to be present and was looking for a way to leave, he started touching my hands and legs in a sexual way.

“He clearly had other ideas about the meeting. He touched my legs and body inappropriately and I’ve made it clear to him that I did not want him to touch me and left the meeting immediately.”

The complaint file, seen by The Independent, reads: “The complainant has received confirmation that an investigator will be contacting her in regards to the allegations.”

Labour had previously declined to comment on what it called an ongoing disciplinary matter.

In his statement on Tuesday evening, Mr Rodwell insisted the Labour Party had “made clear that there is no active investigation into complaints about me”, adding: “But I believe it to be in the best interests of my family at this time to step aside from the candidacy as I have to put family first.”

Saying he completely refuted the allegations against him, Mr Rodwell added: “This place means the world to me and I will continue to fight for this borough, the community I love and lead the council.”

Just hours earlier, doubts had been cast over whether Labour would finalise Mr Rodwell’s candidacy, as it emerged that he had been left off a list of candidates rubber stamped by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) on Tuesday.

While his candidacy could still technically have been approved before nominations closed on Friday, an email from the office of the general secretary stated that Labour was “not recommending” an endorsement in Barking as there are “outstanding NEC processes yet to conclude”, according to reports by Sky News.

In response to the allegations, Mr Rodwell said previously he believed he was “a victim of some sort of attempt to prevent me being selected” as Labour’s candidate, adding: “I am prepared to fully address this complaint, I am in process of consulting lawyers and I would ask it were expedited so my candidature can proceed.”

An influential local government figure in London, Mr Rodwell has been praised for delivering more new housing than in any other borough and has attended football matches with Sir Keir Starmer.

But it is not the first time he has hit the headlines. In 2019 Mr Rodwell, who is white, joked at a Black History Month event that he had “the worst tan possible for a Black man”.

When the clip emerged two years ago he apologised and said his remarks had been “extremely stupid and embarrassing”. But in an email to a supporter, revealed by The Independent last week, he said: “What I can tell you is that it was part of a smear campaign against me.”

Mr Rodwell also sparked fury last October when he used historic gravestones to hang up a political campaign banner in the grounds of Barking Abbey.

And the new investigation into him emerged as a BBC report claimed his office had asked police not to respond if they were contacted by a resident he was planning to confront at their home, in response to a Facebook page he said was designed to “have me taken out”.

“I found out where the person lived,” he told a podcast, “because I have the ways and means – so I used them”, adding: “My office phoned the police up and said the leader wants to let you know: ‘Don’t worry if you get a call from this address’.”

Mr Rodwell also recounted how, in a separate incident, he chased two men down the street with a baseball bat after they attacked his home.