Steerpike Steerpike

Claudia Webbe goes missing in action

Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Pity the poor people of Leicester East. Having finally rid themselves of the disgraced Keith Vaz in 2019, the long-standing Labour constituency now finds itself lumbered with convicted criminal Claudia Webbe. Despite being slapped with a suspended jail sentence, Webbe still clings on in the Commons, pending her appeal, after her barrister’s pleas for the last judge to ‘consider my client’s suffering as a black woman’ was, er, unsuccessful. If her appeal fails, a by-election will (finally) be triggered. Let’s hope next time Labour pick someone who won’t threaten others with acid – nor get caught in a Sunday Mirror drugs and escort sting…

With all her appearances in court, it’s no surprise that Webbe is being accused of neglecting her long-suffering constituents. Infrequently attending Parliament – other than to gatecrash Keir Starmer’s photo-ops – her most high-profile activity in recent weeks has been the revelation that she will be able to keep

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