Former Hendon MP Andrew Dismore has been selected to stand as the Labour Party’s candidate in the constituency at the next general election.
Mr Dismore lost the seat to Conservative Matthew Offord by just 106 votes in 2010 — a result that he described as being “like a bereavement”. He will attempt to overturn it in 2015.
The previous campaign — in a constituency with one of the country’s highest proportions of Jewish voters — was acrimonious, and Mr Dismore had previously said he was left with a sense of “unfinished business”.
He said this week that Mr Offord had run a “pretty filthy campaign”, adding: “I don’t think he has a great list of achievements. By this time in my first Parliament, I had already helped set up Holocaust Memorial Day.
“One of the things that persuaded me to have another go was the reaction I got visiting shuls and Jewish community events. People really encouraged me.”
Mr Offord said his opponent should now resign as London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden and claimed Mr Dismore had used that role — to which he was elected last year — “so he could be selected for a parliamentary seat”.
He added: “Dismore’s shallow claim that he has ‘unfinished business’ is his determination to pursue policies on behalf of his union paymasters and to promote his other pet interests, such as giving convicted prisoners the right to vote as part of his human-rights agenda.” added Mr Offord.
