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A former minister who left Parliament amid the expenses scandal is today set for a Commons comeback after being selected to fight a key Labour target seat at the next election.
Dawn Butler fought off challenges from other former Labour ministers and local councillors to become the party’s candidate for Brent Central.
With Labour looking odds on to overturn a small Liberal Democrat majority in the London seat, Ms Butler is now likely to return to the Commons at the 2015 general election.
The candidate told the Evening Standard she hoped her selection would draw a line under her connection to the expenses furore — which saw claims for a second home heavily criticised.
She said: “It feels good [to be selected]. But I’m not thinking about Westminster, I’m thinking about Brent.”
“People know that I’ve been around, that I have never left Brent and that I’ve stayed to campaign on issues that have been ignored.”
She stood in Brent Central in 2010 after her former seat, Brent South, was abolished. She lost to Lib-Dem Sarah Teather by just 1,345 votes.
Ms Butler’s campaign was tainted by reports she claimed for a “whirlpool” bath, which she denied. In 2009 opponents criticised her for claiming thousands of pounds for a second London home despite having one within 10 miles of Westminster. She had a house in Wembley and one in Stratford.
She said the expenses were legitimate, she was exonerated by an inquiry and she did not have to pay back any cash.
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Lib-Dem MP Ms Teather has since said she will quit politics at the next election, meaning Ms Butler will likely face a less experienced opponent in 2015.
After her selection last night the former Labour MP fired off a salvo at the Coalition parties, signalling the shape of her campaign to come.
She criticised the Lib-Dems as “pointless” and said George Osborne had “gone over the line” and was “hurting people too much”.