The Labour MP Claudia Webbe has been suspended from the Labour party after being charged with harassment of a woman over a period of nearly two years. The MP for Leicester East insisted she was innocent after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said she was accused of carrying out the offence between September 2018 and April 26 this year. Webbe, who was elected for the first time in December last year, released a statement saying she would vigorously contest the charges. It is understood that Labour has withdrawn the whip pending the outcome of the case. She was charged with harassment against one female and will appear at Westminster magistrates court on 11 November. Jenny Hopkins, the head of the special crime unit of the CPS, said in a statement: “The CPS has today decided that Claudia Webbe, MP for Leicester East, should be charged with an offence of harassment against one female. The CPS made the decision after receiving a file of evidence from the Metropolitan police. “Criminal proceedings against Ms Webbe are now active and she has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.” Webbe said: “I am innocent of any wrongdoing and look forward to proving this in court. I will be vigorously defending myself against these claims.” The MP, who chaired the party’s disputes panel under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, previously examined the work of the Met as the force attempted to tackle gun crime among the black community. As head of the Trident Independent Advisory Group for more than a decade, Webbe would often comment publicly on the police force’s efforts to solve gun-related crimes which disproportionately affected African-Caribbean people. After becoming a political adviser to Ken Livingstone when he was London mayor, she rose to greater public prominence following the election of Corbyn, a close political ally, as Labour leader. A community activist in Islington, north London, she was elected to Labour’s national executive committee in 2016 with the backing of the grassroots group Momentum. In 2018, she was elected chair of Labour’s dispute panel and in the process became the first black woman to sit on the officer group of the national executive committee (NEC). She headed the disputes panel as the party dealt with hundreds of allegations of antisemitism. Last year, Webbe was chosen by the NEC to stand to become an MP in Leicester East. The sitting MP, veteran Keith Vaz, stood down following a critical parliamentary inquiry which found he had expressed a willingness to buy cocaine for sex workers. As with most parliamentary selection contests taking place at a late stage, there was no hustings or vote by local party members but the candidate was instead picked by a selection panel including two NEC representatives. Some local activists opposed Webbe as a candidate and accused the party of imposing a Corbyn supporter upon a centrist constituency Labour party (CLP). Webbe said she had family ties with the area. She won the constituency with a majority of just over 6,000, down from the 22,000-plus majority of Vaz. Born in Leicester in 1965, Webbe studied social sciences at De Montford university before moving on to London to study race and ethnic relations at Birkbeck. She is one of 34 members of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs alongside Corbyn, Diane Abbott and John McDonnell. A spokesperson for Leicester East Labour party criticised Webbe for failing to inform the CLP about the charges in advance. “We are shocked at these developments. Since her election Claudia Webbe has chosen not to have had any dealings with the CLP. Against our express wishes she has remained an Islington councillor. “We will support any action taken by the national party and the chief whip. The officers of the party will convene an emergency meeting to discuss these matters,” the spokesperson said. A Labour spokesperson said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on an ongoing case.”