Our parliamentary candidate, Kemi Adegoke is mentioned in the Londoner’s Diary of today’s Evening Standard (not online).

Tessa Jowell stuck up for Baroness Scotland last week on the grounds that “What she represented for young black women has been amazing”. Jowell’s Tory opponent in Dulwich & West Norwood at the next election, 29 year old Nigerian-born Kemi Adegoke begs to differ. “The Attorney General has broken a law that she herself drove through parliament, ” Adegoke, a systems analyst wtih RBS tells me. “15 years ago, someone in politics involved in similar misdemeanours would have resigned straight away -now they cling on as long as possible. How typically patronising is the attempt to brush off law-breaking on the basis of someone’s ethnicity-as ridiculous and grating as me claiming Jowell is a role model for old white women”.

The quote was a response to an interview with the Dulwich & West Norwood MP in last Friday’s  Evening Standard following the paper’s headline story “ Labour is set to lose 17 seats in London“.

Dulwich & West Norwood, is one of the seats predicted to change hands.

Below is the letter that Kemi wrote to the Evening Standard which was published as the above diary item.

I find it unbelievable that my opponent, Tessa Jowell, has praised Baroness Scotland as “outstanding”, and a role model for young black women (Evening Standard, 25 September). As a 29-year-old black woman, I can state categorically that Baroness Scotland is no role model of mine.

The Attorney General has broken a law that she herself drove through parliament. It is inappropriate and patronising to brush off law-breaking on the basis of someone’s ethnicity. For Ms. Jowell to claim her as a role model on behalf of young black women is typical of New Labour’s smug and patronising manner towards ethnic minorities. It is as ridiculous and grating as me claiming Ms Jowell is “a role model for old white women”.

On the day that the Evening Standard reported that Labour is set to lose 17 seats in London, her interview in your paper confirms that Labour has nothing more to offer other than a navel-gazing puff piece.

What is most revealing of her attitude is that she does not mention her constituents or Dulwich & West Norwood once.