Health Minister sacked for insulting and ‘antisemitic’ Whatsapp comments

In April 2018, Gwynne came under fire under similar circumstances when a Labour supporters’ Facebook group of which he was a member shared antisemitic material. When confronted by a reporter, he claimed he had been added to the group without his permission.

He also drew strong criticism from Jewish groups when in the same year, as Labour’s shadow communities secretary, he suggested the party was working on a “broader” definition of what constituted antisemitism.

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with members of his shadow cabinet (from left) Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey and Shadow Communities Secretary, Andrew Gwynne (Credit: Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)Getty Images

The Mail on Sunday also said that  Gwynne’s messages mocked  a 72-year-old pensioner and constituent over a bin collection issue. Gwynne wrote: “Dear resident, F*** your bins. I’m re-elected and without your vote. Screw you. PS: Hopefully you’ll have croaked it by the all-outs.”

It also accused him of posting racist comments about Labour MPs Diane Abbott and sexist comments about Angela Rayner.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer suspended him from the Labour Party when he was told about the content of the WhatsApp messages on Saturday.

A government spokesperson said Starmer was “determined to uphold high standards of those in public office” and “will not hesitate” to take action against ministers who fall short of these standards.