Tessa Jowell apologised today after a volunteer for her campaign to be Mayor said rival Sadiq Khan was a “liability” because he is Muslim.
Dame Tessa’s team immediately condemned the comment after it threatened to plunge the Labour frontrunner’s City Hall bid into a racism scandal.
The campaign volunteer had called Labour party member Rachel Coldbreath in an attempt to win her vote for Dame Tessa.
But Ms Coldbreath said she finished the call “utterly shocked to my bones” after the volunteer, who has been dismissed, blurted out the comment.
There are just days left for party members to vote in the contest to select Labour’s candidate for Mayor.
Ms Coldbreath, 45, who uses the Twitter name @Chiller, wrote: “Phoned by @TessaJowell’s camp re @UKLabour mayor candidates. Who told me I had to consider #Sadiqkhan ‘a liability’ bc he’s Muslim. WTF.”
She told the volunteer her first choice candidate would be Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott, with Tooting MP Mr Khan her second preference. But Ms Coldbreath said the volunteer then told her: “Long term you have to consider that Sadiq Khan is a liability because he’s a Muslim.”
The Labour member said she was so shocked that she was “shaking” and the problem needed “weeding out”.
Dame Tessa used Twitter to contact Ms Coldbreath and phoned her to promise an investigation.
This morning a spokesman said: “On discovering the tweet, Tessa phoned Rachel immediately to apologise unreservedly.” He added: “Within hours we investigated the matter and made clear to the volunteer using the phone in question that they are not welcome at our phonebanks again.” Ms Coldbreath thanked Dame Tessa for her apology and “swift action”.
