CAMDEN Council leader SARAH Hayward has admitted she “made a mistake” when she promised Labour councillors she would not give up being council leader to try to become an MP.

Upset members claimed her selection campaign in Holborn and St Pancras – kickstarted in the wake of Frank Dobson's decision to step down from the House of Commons – was starting on a “broken promise” after recalling her clear pledge detailed in an email sent while she was running for the leadership of the local group two years ago.

She said in her Q&A email: “Are you doing this just to be an MP? No. I’ve never stood for selection, let alone for Parliament. I am not on the parliamentary panel of candidates and I won’t stand for Parliament or selection as an MP while I am leader of Camden.”

The email was sent as she canvassed support in her battle with Tulip Siddiq for the council leadership.

One senior councillor said: “It is a clear promise that she will not go off to be an MP – and what is she doing now: trying to go off and be an MP, and at a time when the council needs strong leadership as the cuts keep coming? If you break a promise from the start, how can you keep the confidence?”

Reminded of the email, Cllr Hayward said she had “changed my mind” and “in hindsight, it was a mistake to have said it because you never know what will happen, but it was said in good faith not for any nefarious reasons that people might try to attach to it”.

She added: “A lot of people who I made that commitment to have said they understand and actually support me to go for selection.”