28th September 2018 • article
New Tory candidate for London slammed over tweet calling Sadiq Khan a 'mad mullah'
Image: BBC
The Conservative party has finally picked someone to run against Sadiq Khan for Mayor of London in the 2020 elections.
But he is already under fire for his tweets.
47 year-old Shaun Bailey defeated Tory candidates Andrew Boff and Joy Morrissey in an internal election for London Conservative members. Just over 7k votes were cast in the selection, compared to 9k votes in 2015 when Zac Goldsmith was selected (that was a semi-open election, however), and over 19k in 2007 when Boris Johnson was selected.
But Bailey has been on the defensive after reportedly sharing a tweet that branded Sadiq Khan "mad mullah Khan of Londonistan".
The tweet, shared last year, also branded Labour as "anti-British" for buying German buses for London, according to the Independent. It has since been deleted.
London MP Wes Streeting said this morning: "Londoners have not forgiven or forgotten the Islamophobic campaign waged against Sadiq Khan (by Zac Goldsmith)."
"The frontrunner for the nomination has failed to distance himself from that campaign and has shared incendiary content. London deserves better than this."
A spokesperson from Bailey's campaign said: "As The Independent’s screenshot shows, these grossly offensive words were in no way visible in the chain that was retweeted. Shaun was completely unaware of their existence, and as someone who has suffered racial abuse himself, there is no way on earth Shaun would ever knowingly have shared something so offensive."
In 2016, Zac Goldsmith's campaign for London Mayor was widely accused of being Islamophobic for trying to link Sadiq Khan to Muslim extremism.
This morning Conservative peer Sayeeda Warsi urged Bailey to distance himself from it.
But he is already under fire for his tweets.
47 year-old Shaun Bailey defeated Tory candidates Andrew Boff and Joy Morrissey in an internal election for London Conservative members. Just over 7k votes were cast in the selection, compared to 9k votes in 2015 when Zac Goldsmith was selected (that was a semi-open election, however), and over 19k in 2007 when Boris Johnson was selected.
But Bailey has been on the defensive after reportedly sharing a tweet that branded Sadiq Khan "mad mullah Khan of Londonistan".
The tweet, shared last year, also branded Labour as "anti-British" for buying German buses for London, according to the Independent. It has since been deleted.
London MP Wes Streeting said this morning: "Londoners have not forgiven or forgotten the Islamophobic campaign waged against Sadiq Khan (by Zac Goldsmith)."
"The frontrunner for the nomination has failed to distance himself from that campaign and has shared incendiary content. London deserves better than this."
A spokesperson from Bailey's campaign said: "As The Independent’s screenshot shows, these grossly offensive words were in no way visible in the chain that was retweeted. Shaun was completely unaware of their existence, and as someone who has suffered racial abuse himself, there is no way on earth Shaun would ever knowingly have shared something so offensive."
In 2016, Zac Goldsmith's campaign for London Mayor was widely accused of being Islamophobic for trying to link Sadiq Khan to Muslim extremism.
This morning Conservative peer Sayeeda Warsi urged Bailey to distance himself from it.
Congratulations @ShaunBaileyUK
— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) September 28, 2018
You have the potential to set a new and fresh tone.
And that starts with distancing yourself from the last @Conservatives campaign and the divisive rhetoric of the past. #NoToIslamophobicCampaigning https://t.co/vobolYXj9t
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