Storm as BBC star tells Rory: You are too white and posh to be London Mayor
BBC presenter Justin Webb triggered a row yesterday when he suggested that Rory Stewart should not stand for London Mayor because he was a white, male, Old Etonian.
The former Tory leadership candidate quit the party on Friday and quickly announced he would be running for the London job as an independent.
But Mr Webb asked whether it was ‘really 2020’ for him to be standing against black Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey and Muslim Sadiq Khan, Labour’s current Mayor.
On Radio 4’s flagship Today programme, Mr Webb asked Mr Stewart: ‘You mention that you are proud of the diversity of the mayoral race in London, you are a white guy and Old Etonian – it’s not really 2020 is it, really, to be challenging a black man who is the Conservative candidate and the Muslim mayor?’
Mr Webb, who was himself privately educated, added: ‘You are saying don’t elect them, elect a white Etonian.’ Mr Stewart hit back: ‘I’m definitely not saying that.
‘I am saying that you should not be voting for me on the basis of my ethnicity but on the basis of the fact that I feel that, as an ex-Cabinet Minister, as someone who has run big projects internationally… I can turn things around.’ Allies of Mr Stewart had expected his privileged background and ethnicity to be used against him in the race, given that more than 40 per cent of London’s population is now non-white.
It may also be unhelpful to his prospects that, if he was successful, both the Prime Minister and the London Mayor would have attended the same school.
But his allies were privately angry yesterday at what they describe as the ‘last tolerated prejudice’ against privately educated white males.
Boris Johnson – won two elections to be London Mayor despite being white, male and an Old Etonian.
After failing in his leadership bid, Mr Stewart became increasingly critical of Mr Johnson’s approach to Brexit, leading to him being one of 21 Tory MPs who were sacked from the party for voting to block a No Deal Brexit.
Mr Stewart said he was running as an independent candidate in May’s election to protect the city from ‘Brexit danger’, claiming that the ‘wondrous’ city was at risk because of Britain’s exit from the EU.
His remarks were attacked by Mr Bailey, who said he thought it was ‘distressing’ that Mr Stewart was not concentrating on rising crime levels in the capital. He said: ‘ It’s incredible to me that everyone seems to be running their London campaigns on Brexit. I’m trying to have a conversation with nine million Londoners who are living in a city that’s riddled with crime.’
Mr Stewart was also challenged about his privilege on Channel 4 News on Friday.
Presenter Cathy Newman asked him how someone of his background felt to be damaging the chances of a ‘Jamaican, comprehensive-educated, son of a single mum’ like Mr Bailey. He denied feeling guilty, saying: ‘It’s democracy.’
‘Challenging a black man and a Muslim’