A Labour councillor who has wanted restricted rights for buy to let landlords and short let hosts has been dropped as a parliamentary candidate. 

Labour’s powerful National Executive Committee has refused to endorse Darren Rodwell, a party councillor and senior figure on n the umbrella group London Councils.

In that capacity,  Rodwell recently called on outgoing Housing Secretary Michael Gove to clampdown further on Airbnb and other short let landlords. 

He opposed the automatic acceptance of existing Airbnbs for future letting and said: “For too many years the short-term lets market has been growing out of control … We welcome the government’s move to improve regulation of the sector, but the blanket reclassification of existing short-term lets into a new use class could strip the capital of thousands of homes.”

Last year Rodwell  backed the original unabated version of Gove’s Renters Reform Bill, saying: “The removal of ‘no fault’ evictions is a significant step towards tackling our national homelessness crisis, and we are also glad to see the introduction of an Ombudsman for the private rented sector, as an additional mechanism for tenants to seek appropriate redress from their landlord.”

Now Rodwell has been stopped from standing as Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for Barking in London.

The party says it is investigating allegations about Rodwell’s behaviour – Rodwell has strongly denied the allegations.