Politics
Starmer allies replace Corbynistas as Labour candidates as ‘purge’ continues
Allies of Sir Keir have been selected in key parliamentary seats
May 31, 2024 10:58
Allies of Sir Keir have been selected in key parliamentary seats
May 31, 2024 10:58The Labour Party last night completed a further round of selections for parliamentary candidates in the upcoming general election.
Left-wing supporters of former leader Jeremy Corbyn have criticised the party’s handling of the process.
In the key Labour target seat of Chingford and Woodford Green, Faiza Shaheen, who contested the seat in 2019 and came within touching difference of unseating Iain Duncan Smith, was removed as the official candidate for reasons including anti-Israel social media activity.
The party confirmed her replacement would be Shama Tatler, a councillor in the London Borough of Brent and member of the Jewish Labour Movement. Shaheen attacked this decision, posting on X that Labour’s leadership “would rather lose than have a left pro-Palestine candidate. This is offensive to my community.”
Dave Ward, the general secretary of the Communication Workers’ Union, told social media site joe.co.uk that he was “appalled” by Labour’s treatment of Shaheen and criticised what he called a lack of consistent standards when it came to Parliamentary selections.
Fellow left-winger Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who until recently served as the MP for Brighton Kempton, was removed as a candidate over what he called “a vexatious and politically motivated complaint about my behaviour eight years ago”. He was replaced by Chris Ward, who worked for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer between 2015 and 2021.
Mark Ferguson, a trade union official for Unison, was selected for Gateshead & Wickham in the North East of England, which is home to the third-largest Charedi community in the UK.
In Birmingham Selly Oak, Steve McCabe, the current chair of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) who is stepping down as an MP, will be replaced by Alistair Carns, a former colonel in the Royal Marines who was awarded the Military Cross while serving in Afghanistan.
Paying tribute to McCabem LFI’s director Michael Rubin said: “In his four years as LFI chair, Steve has played a key role returning the Labour Party to its historic position of support for Israel and a two-state solution.
"In good times and bad, Steve has been a staunch ally of the UK's Jewish community, including in the fight against antisemitism within Labour”.
Parliament would be “poorer without” McCabe, he added.
Corbyn, who is standing as an independent candidate in Islington North has described the choice of candidates as a “purge”.
Speaking to Sky News the ex-Labour leader said: "The one thing they all have in common, the people that have been purged, is that they're on the left of the party and have all spoken out in favour of an immediate ceasefire and permanent ceasefire in Gaza."
Sir Keir has countered this saying he wanted "the highest quality candidates" to stand.