Praful Nargund

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PRAFUL Nargund – the first Labour candidate to lose in the Islington North constituency since 1935 – this week claimed he was a victim of “disinformation” during his unsuccessful bid to become an MP.

The Barnsbury councillor, who did not appear at public hustings or take questions from the Tribune during the campaign, said: “There was a barrage of disinformation aimed at discrediting my candidacy.

“The truth of the matter is that the allegations made during the campaign were not just inaccur­ate, they were demon­strably false and designed to smear me as the Labour candidate”.

When asked to clarify what the “disinformation” was and where it was coming from, he said: “I am not going to further amplify falsehoods by going into specifics”.

Despite Labour’s dominance in the seat, the general election in July threw up the unique circumstance of the party’s former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, winning the vote as an independent and keeping his place in parliament.

Mr Nargund and his family ran a highly profitable private IVF company, and this was widely commented on during the campaign, especially online.

But he believes that any characterisation of their IVF business as “exploitative” was unfair.

This is not the first time that Mr Nargund has spoken about “disinformation” in the wake of the election, but critics have said he could have challenged it by speaking to press or appearing at the hustings.

Mr Nargund told the Tribune that he was “focused on engaging directly with the people of Islington North, where real conversations take place. I sought not to let the appalling online smears shape my campaign and our team provided factual information at every opportunity.”

In an interview with the i newspaper columnist Anne McElvoy this week, Mr Nargund said that “far-fetched” claims online impacted voters’ opinion of him, and bolstered support for Mr Corbyn who ended by winning by more than 7,000 votes.

The Tribune made a series of requests to interview Mr Nargund during the campaign without being granted even a couple of minutes of his time.

Mr Nargund said his decision to speak out now was an effort to raise “what happened as an example of the way disinformation can travel quickly online, move offline and create a climate of toxicity for all involved”.

He added: “This should be concerning for every­one, irrespective of their politics, and is dangerous for democracy.”

In an interview with the Tribune earlier this year, James Schneider, Mr Corbyn’s campaign director, said: “There was nothing remotely dirty, the campaign was positive, it was full of hope, and if there were any issues that Praful wished to clear up, he could have done so by opening himself to basic levels of scrutiny by turning up to hustings and offering media interviews.”

He added: “If you make your money from private healthcare, and you’re running in a constituency where the vast majority of people oppose privatisation, it would probably be incumbent upon you to explain yourself.”