Claudia Webbe: Difference between revisions

{{short description|British Independent politician, former MP for Leicester(born East1969)}}

| name = Claudia Webbe

| honorific-suffix =

| image = Official portrait of Claudia Webbe MP crop 2.jpg

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| caption = Official portrait, 2019

| office = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Leicester East (UK Parliament constituency)|Leicester East]]

| term_start = 12 December 2019

| term_end = 30 May 2024

| predecessor = [[Keith Vaz]]

| successor = [[Shivani Raja]]

| majority = 6,019 (12.2%) =

| office1 = Member of [[Islington London Borough Council]]lor<br />for [[Bunhill (ward)|Bunhill]]

| term_start1 = 6 May 2010

| term_end1 = 6 May 2021

| deputy1 =

| predecessor1 = Donna Boffa

| successor1 =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|3|8|df=y}}

| birth_place = [[Leicester]], England

| birth_name = Claudia Naomi Webbe

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = [[Independent politician|Independent]]

| otherparty = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] (until 3 November 2021)

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

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| residence = London, England

| alma_mater = [[Coventry University|Lanchester Polytechnic]] ([[BSc]])<br>[[De Montfort University]] (BA)<br>[[University of Birmingham]]<br>[[Birkbeck, University of London]] (MSc) <br> [[University of Nottingham]] (PgDip)

| occupation =

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| website = {{official website|https://www.claudiawebbe.org/}}

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'''Claudia Naomi Webbe''' (born 8 March 1965)<ref>{{cite book |last=Brunskill |first=Ian |title=The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019: the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election |year=2020 |page=252 |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Limited |isbn=978-0-00-839258-1 |oclc=1129682574}}</ref> is a British former politician who was the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Leicester East (UK Parliament constituency)|Leicester East]]. Shefrom was2019 to 2024. electedElected to Parliament as a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP in [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019]], andshe sat as an [[Independent politician|Independent]] from 2021 until she lost her seat at the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 General Election]].

She was suspended from the party whip in September 2020 after being charged with harassment of a woman who was having an affair with Webbe's then -partner.<ref name="guardian260522">{{cite news |date=26 May 2022 |title=Ex-Labour MP Claudia Webbe loses appeal against harassment conviction |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/26/ex-labour-mp-claudia-webbe-loses-appeal-against-harassment-conviction |access-date=26 May 2022}}</ref> Webbe was later expelled from the Labour Party on 3 November 2021 after being convicted in October 2021. Her appeal was partially dismissed on 26 May 2022, though her sentence was reduced to eighty hours of community service, and compensation to the victim reduced from £1,000 to £50.<ref name="BBCWebbeLosesAppeal">{{cite news |date=26 May 2022 |title=MP Claudia Webbe loses appeal against harassment conviction |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-61591802}}</ref> As Webbe's reduced sentence was not custodial, it did not trigger a constituency recall petition under the [[Recall of MPs Act 2015]].

Webbe stood for election as a councillor in the [[Hillrise (ward)|Hillrise]] ward of [[London Borough of Islington|Islington]] in [[2006 Islington London Borough Council election|2006]], but was unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islington.gov.uk/DownloadableDocuments/CouncilandDemocracy/Pdf/localelections2006/hillrise_election_results_2006.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Hillrise Ward {{!}} Election Results Local 2006 Final Result|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318001429/http://www.islington.gov.uk/DownloadableDocuments/CouncilandDemocracy/Pdf/localelections2006/hillrise_election_results_2006.pdf |archive-date=18 March 2012|date=18 March 2012}}</ref> She was elected as a Labour councillor to [[Islington London Borough Council]] in [[2010 Islington London Borough Council election|2010]], representing [[Bunhill (ward)|Bunhill]] ward.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.islington.gov.uk/about-the-council/voting-and-elections/elections/previous-elections/pre-2014-elections/council-elections/bunhill|title=Bunhill|publisher=Islington Council|date=6 May 2010|access-date=8 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308222346/https://www.islington.gov.uk/about-the-council/voting-and-elections/elections/previous-elections/pre-2014-elections/council-elections/bunhill|archive-date=8 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> She was re-elected in [[2014 Islington London Borough Council election|2014]] and [[2018 Islington London Borough Council election|2018]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://democracy.islington.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=35|title=Councillor details - Councillor Claudia Webbe|date=2 October 2021|website=democracy.islington.gov.uk}}</ref> She served as the council's executive member for the environment and transport.<ref name="staggers"/> Webbe resigned as an Islington councillor in March 2021, following her election to Parliament.<ref name="islingtonresignation">{{cite web |url=https://www.islington.media/news/by-election-in-bunhill-ward |date=22 March 2021 |title=By-election in Bunhill ward |website=Islington Council News |publisher=London Borough of Islington |access-date=27 September 2021}}</ref>

Webbe, in May 2024, announced that she would be running as an Independentindependent candidate in [[Leicester East (UK Parliament constituency)|Leicester East]] at the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 generalGeneral electionElection]]. The [[Workers Party of Britain]] said it would not stand a candidate against Webbe and would support her if she chose to stand again.<ref>{{cite web |title=General election 2024 |url=https://workerspartybritain.org/general-election-2024/ |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=Workers Party of Britain |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Leicester MP Claudia Webbe will fight again for her seat in Westminster |url=https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicester-mp-claudia-webbe-fight-9303766 |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=Leicestershire Live|date=24 May 2024 }}</ref> Webbe [[Leicester East (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 2020s|failed in her re-election bid]], receiving 5,532just votes11.8% finishingof fourththe behindtotal thevote Conservatives, Labourshare and thefinishing Liberal Democratsfourth.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Leicester East - General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001326 |access-date=2024-07-05 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> In a shock outcome, despite national polling predicting a major nationwide shift away from the governing [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Exit poll: Labour to win landslide in general election |url=https://news.sky.com/story/exit-poll-labour-to-win-landslide-in-general-election-13164851 |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref> their candidate, [[Shivani Raja]], gained the seat - Webbe would emerge the only member of the 2019 parliamentary cohort to be unseated by a Conservative.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tories' only gain in entire election: Shivani Raja wins seat after Keith Vaz and Claudia Webbe split vote |url=https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/tories-only-gain-in-entire-election-shivani-raja-wins-seat/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=LBC |language=en}}</ref>

Webbe appealed against the conviction, and the appeal hearing commenced at Southwark Crown Court on 19 May 2022.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/19/appeal-hearing-mp-claudia-webbe |title=MP Claudia Webbe's appeal hearing over harassment conviction opens |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=19 May 2022 |access-date=27 June 2024}}</ref> Her appeal was partially dismissed on 26 May 2022, though her 10 week suspended sentence was reduced to eighty hours of community service, and compensation to the victim reduced from £1,000 to £50.<ref name="BBCWebbeLosesAppeal"/><ref name="guardian260522" /> The judge found that Webbe had not "made a threat to throw acid over" Michelle Merritt, but a string of silent phone calls and threats to reveal naked pictures of her had been “a course of conduct which amounted to harassment”.<ref name="guardian260522" /> The judge stated Merritt was an "unsatisfactory witness" who had "told lies".<ref>{{cite web |last=Kirk |first=Tristan |title=MP Claudia Webbe loses bid to overturn harassment conviction |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/mp-claudia-webbe-labour-harassment-conviction-naked-pictures-b1002570.html |website=Evening Standard |date=26 May 2022 |access-date=5 June 2022}}</ref> As Webbe's reduced sentence was not custodial, it did not trigger a consistuency recall petition under the [[Recall of MPs Act 2015]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-05/Recall%20Act%20-%20initial%20factsheet%20-%20amended%20April%202021.pdf |title=Introduction to the Recall of MPs Act 2015 |publisher=[[Electoral Commission]] |date=April 2021 |page=2}}</ref>