Labour hopeful pulls out after Holocaust outburst

A LEADING contender to become Labour’s candidate in a London by-election withdrew after comparing the Israel-Palestine conflict to ‘Nazi persecution’.

Phyll Opoku-Gyimah had been the frontrunner to succeed Heidi Alexander as MP for Lewisham East.

On Holocaust Memorial Day this year, the far-Left supporter of Jeremy Corbyn claimed Palestinians were victims of a ‘genocide’– and that the Israel-Palestine conflict should be considered alongside the systematic extermination of more than six million Jews in the Holocaust.

Miss Opoku-Gyimah is said to have been one of several candidates due to be shortlisted by senior Labour officials.

The by-election was triggered last week after Miss Alexander quit to be London’s deputy mayor for transport.

Miss Opoku-Gyimah – a co-founder of UK Black Pride, LGBT campaigner and union official – said an ‘unexpected family situation’ had forced her to withdraw.