News / Politics
Marvin Rees ‘disappointed’ on not being selected as Labour candidate
Marvin Rees has admitted for the first time that he felt disappointed after not being selected as a parliamentary candidate.
Bristol’s former mayor was part of a panel on Newsnight to discuss the “vulnerable” side of a politician’s life, following objects being thrown at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
During his time as mayor, Rees received racist death threats.
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Describing Rees as a “star”, Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark asked him what went wrong in him not winning selection for the new Bristol North East constituency which former Lewisham mayor Damien Egan will contest on July 4.
“Basically, I didn’t get selected,” Rees answered matter-of-factly.
The vote was decided by Labour members who live within the new constituency, with former The Voice editor Lester Holloway blaming “Bristol’s turnip-munching racists” for Rees’ non-selection.
Rees added: “There’s a process. I mean, I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t disappointed. That wasn’t true if I was to say that.
“But here I am as a pundit on your sofa, instead of running for parliament.”
Rees also denied ever having a direct conversation with Labour leader Keir Starmer over his potential candidacy for the new Bristol North East constituency.
When probed by Wark if there was an issue with Labour’s candidate selection process, Rees replied that “there’s been a discussion”.
He added: “There’s a fantastic team out now running for selection.
“I have been working very hard for an amazing candidate in Bristol. We’ve got some excellent people coming forward.”
Commenting on Nigel Farage having objects thrown at him, even though Rees thought it was “unacceptable”, he said that Farage had “fed into” a culture of anger and hate.
Rees’ comments prompted a clash with his fellow panellist, Rachel Johnson, the sister of former prime minister, Boris Johnson.
Rees said: “Protest is a legitimate part of our political journey. The progress we’ve made in this country and around the world is often being ushered in by people making protests.
“But protest needs to be intelligent, informed and properly targeted. And it needs to think about the way it lands in the public domain.
“What happened around Nigel is not an intelligent form of protest.
“But what I can’t pretend though is that he hasn’t fed into a culture of anger and hate and othering, that ends up kind of manifesting into this very aggressive kind of politics.”
Rees, who has just been named as an honorary professor at University of Bristol, was also adamant about politicians needing space to create a space for people to live together.
He said: “Bristol is a city of 42 square miles*, people from all different backgrounds live there.
“The number of times I’ve looked at the way national politicians frame national debate and international debate in a way that doesn’t help our ability to create a space in which people live together.
“So what I’m not doing is justifying what happened, but what I’m saying is you have to take some responsibility.”
*Bristol City Council’s boundary measures 42 miles. Mathematically, this does not mean that the city’s area is 42 square miles.
Main photo: BBC
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