Emma Dent Coad MP accused of writing 'racist' blog post

Emma Dent Coad has been accused of writing a "racist" article in a 2010 blog piece

A Conservative London Assembly member has accused a Labour MP of writing a "racist" article about him before she entered Parliament.

Emma Dent Coad wrote a blog piece in 2010 in which she labelled Shaun Bailey a "token ghetto boy".

Mr Bailey said the MP should apologise for the "hate-filled, racist article".

A spokesman for Ms Dent Coat, who was elected to Kensington in June, said she had been quoting Mr Bailey's "own comments about parts of the borough".

In the article Ms Dent Coad called Shaun Bailey the "'token ghetto boy' standing behind D Cameron"

In the piece Ms Dent Coad claimed Mr Bailey, who was a parliamentary candidate for Hammersmith, had "stigmatised" the area he was born in by referring to it as a "ghetto".

"Who can say where this man will ever fit in, however hard he tries? One day he is the 'token ghetto boy' standing behind D Cameron, the next 'looking interested' beside G Osborne. Ever felt used?," she wrote.

After the blog post was highlighted, Mr Bailey said he had never been "labelled a 'token ghetto boy'" before and was "shocked and saddened" by the article.

He said Ms Dent Coad's "use of language should not be acceptable for an elected politician... and she should be ashamed", he said.

"I am proud of where I am from and would certainly not use language like ghetto in a way to disparage the area I grew up in," the London Assembly member said.

Ms Dent Coad's spokesman said it was clear in the original post she had been quoting Mr Bailey's "own comments... plus those of his Conservative colleagues on Kensington and Chelsea Council".