‘Tory party racist? My girlfriend is Chinese', says crêpe stall candidate fighting council elections for Conservatives
Wednesday, 15th January 2014
Published: 15 January, 2013
By PAVAN AMARA
THE owner of the popular Hampstead High Street crêpe stand has been chosen to stand as a Conservative candidate in May’s council elections.
Edward de Mesquita, 66, who is to stand in West Hampstead, has already started going door to door to canvass voters. He said he was shocked to find residents accusing his party of coming up with “racist” policies.
“One thing I have become very sensitive about is this accusation that Conservatives are somehow racist,” Mr de Mesquita said. “Conservatives are not racist. So many of the Conservatives have foreign wives after all.”
Mr de Mesquita, who has been running the crêpe stand in Hampstead High Street for 34 years, hit the headlines last year after a dispute with neighbouring King William IV pub over moving his fridge from its garden.
He said: “Many of the racists in this area are old people or less privileged people. How could I be racist? I have a Chinese girlfriend. Most of the girlfriends I’ve had have been very international. I tend to go for non-white women.
“So, when I go out door knocking, and people tell me the Conservatives are racist, I could say: ‘No, now come on. I have a Chinese girlfriend.’”
Mr de Mesquita said Conservatives were a “rainbow party”, adding: “We have got whatever they have got, if they [Labour] have a Bangladeshi woman then we could get a Bangladeshi woman. In fact, I met one the other day. She was very bright, and I said: ‘You should get into politics and go against Tulip Siddiq [Labour councillor and general election candidate].”
Regarding the crêpe stand, which attracts A-list stars such as Harry Styles, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, he said police intervention had soothed the long-standing “situation”. Both parties attended a mediation meeting at West Hampstead police station which ended with a handshake before Christmas.
He said: “Last time I compared me trying to talk to the pub to a Jew trying to talk to Himmler. Police told me that was a wrong choice of analogy. I only chose it because I am interested in German history. I think that was the wrong thing to say, because it is actually far more like the situation with Israel and Palestine, or with Syria and the Sunnis or perhaps even the Tamils and the Sri Lankan government.”
The crêperie is still looking for storage space in Hampstead, having cut its opening hours.
