Labour candidate suspended after Gordon Brown jibe

Mr Sood has been suspended from the Labour Party after his comments

A Labour general election candidate who said Gordon Brown was the "worst prime minister we have had in this country" has been suspended by the party.

Manish Sood, a councillor in Leicester, caused uproar when he called Mr Brown "incompetent" during the campaign.

Mr Sood lives in Leicester but was standing in the North West Norfolk constituency, where he came third, polling 6,353 votes.

Mr Sood said he was "quite upset" but "still proud of what I did".

Last week his mother - a Labour councillor in Leicester and former Lord Mayor of the city - had criticised his comments.

'Very damaging'

North West Norfolk Labour party chairman David Collis had also called him a "dreadful candidate".

Mr Sood said: "Basically just after the day it all came out they suspended me from the party.

"I got an email saying I had been suspended from the party for speaking against Gordon Brown.

"I'm actually quite upset. It's very, very damaging because I can't move forward now.

"They have said they are going to investigate but there's not much more I can do until they sort out where the problems are."

Mr Sood said his suspension also affected his work as a city councillor in Leicester and he was currently unable to attend certain meetings.

The North West Norfolk seat was won by Conservative Henry Bellingham, who polled 25,916 votes.

A Labour Party spokesman confirmed Mr Sood had been suspended but would not comment further.