Keith Vaz is making a return to politics, having announced his candidacy for the 2024 general election to reclaim his former Leicester East seat after more than four years since his retirement.
The former MP, who represented Leicester East for 32 years, is contesting against Claudia Webbe, his successor and another former Labour member. Mr Vaz is running under the banner of the newly formed One Leicester Party, founded in August 2023 by Rita Patel, also a former Leicester Labour councillor.
As he campaigns for victory on July 4, Mar Vaz spoke to Asian Voice about his return to active politics, his vision for Leicester East and why he is the best choice for the constituency.
1. What prompted your decision to come out of retirement and stand as a candidate in the 2024 general election for the Leicester East seat?
I've decided to stand again and come out of retirement because of the state of the country, nationally. The state of the city, locally and the general way in which our politics is broken.
At the last election, 35,000 of the people of Leicester East voted for me and gave me a majority of 22,000. It was the greatest privilege of my life to serve as the MP. Now I am shocked with what I see. Despite so many opportunities, Leicester is unrecognisable and on the edge of bankruptcy. Instead of being a city of the future, it has become a city of closed High Street shops, traffic congestion, areas of crime and over 6,000 people on the housing waiting list. The Labour Mayor announced he will close the celebrated Leicester market and end one of the most famous events, the “Diwali light switch-on ceremony”.
It's for those reasons that I felt I couldn't stand aside, but instead, I had to stand in.
2. Could you elaborate on your vision for Leicester East and how it aligns with the goals of the One Leicester Party? How will you work to rebuild trust and confidence in the political system among constituents who may have become disillusioned?
One Leicester is committed to rebuilding trust and confidence in the local community where people of all religions can work together and none. The best way to do that is to bring communities together. Now in time, our communities are divided.
We need to fix the broken promises and the broken politics that we have, and I hope that this will change the way how the great City of Leicester operates.
3. There are significant narratives around Islamophobia and antisemitism in the UK, and Labour has been in the spotlight, especially after incidents involving Faiza Shaheen and Diane Abbott. As someone who was affiliated to the party for a long time until recently, do you think the party is serious about safeguarding the interests of the minority communities?
I'm not convinced these days that the Labour Party is the Labour Party I joined when I was a very young person. I think ethnic minority people have been marginalised in the way in which the party has operated and to some extent it seems that other parties have done better. We need to value exactly what the black and Asian communities have done and make sure that they are praised and rewarded for being part of the political system.
4. Alternatively, how do you plan to represent and advocate for minorities in your constituency, drawing from your own lived experience?
As the first person of Indian origin to be elected for 50 years in 1987 of course, I want to plan and advocate for minorities in my constituency. We are a growing population with many different cultures and it's important that everyone should feel part of the same fabric. At the moment, I'm afraid communities are pretty divided.
5. What makes you the better choice for Leicester East as compared to Conservative’s Shivani Raja, Labours party’s Rajesh Agarwal and your ex-Labour successor, Claudia Webb, along with other candidates in the running?
I have a wealth of experience. I have been a Member of Parliament for Thirty-Two and a half years. I've taken up, 41,000 cases. I have held 1664 surgeries and I've spent 3,326 hours in surgeries.
In my last year as an MP, I sent out 10,542 letters and emails.
I believe at this moment in time you need someone of confidence, someone with commitment and someone with a great deal of experience. It's not going to be easy with a change of government. We need to make sure that we change the government and make it work for the people. If there is a change in government, we need to make sure it's ready for local people. I think that you need someone who is a big hitter and I believe that I can do the job. I have already said I only want to do this for five years.
6. Usually new parties or independent candidates struggle to sustain and help the community without any long-term funding and support. How do you plan to continue to keep that consistency?
I am quite sure that the One Leicester party will be able to sustain itself. I am also sure that it will succeed in the future. It is a voluntary party and people will make contributions. I am myself pledged to do 3 very important things for local people.
· I want to make sure that we open the first ever seven days a week MP's office.
· When I first came here, I set up the first MP's office and decided I will not take a salary but instead donate my salary to good causes through an independent trust.
· Finally, I want to protect the General Hospital.
It's a very, very important hospital to me and I want to make sure that it is properly and adequately protected. We need 3X in hospitals in Leicester and that is an essential part of my campaign.
I Live to serve. I love Leicester.
