Politics
Starmer removes Corbynite MP candidates in ‘cull of the left’
Candidates blocked as leader’s allies given winnable seats
May 30, 2024 13:09
Candidates blocked as leader’s allies given winnable seats
May 30, 2024 13:09Sir Keir Starmer has faced anger from the Corbynite fringe of his party after Labour withdrew its endorsement from a number of left-wing parliamentary hopefuls and installed allies of the leadership as candidates for other seats.
Yesterday, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, until recently the MP for Brighton Kemptown, posted on Facebook that he had been suspended as the candidate in what he believed to have been “a vexatious and politically motivated complaint about my behaviour eight years ago”.
Also yesterday, Faiza Shaheen, Labour’s Candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green at the 2019 general election - who had been re-selected as the candidate by local party members for the upcoming election - saw her endorsement rescinded by Labour.
Earlier this week it was reported that the Jewish Labour Movement had raised concerns over Shaheen’s suitability as the candidate over her anti-Israel social media activity.
Shaheen told BBC Newsnight she found out by email while campaigning that she had been suspended as the candidate and that she “couldn’t remember” liking the tweet in question.
Veteran Corbyn ally Diane Abbott – whose candidacy is still up in the air - called it a "cull of left wingers".
Momentum, the left-wing faction within the Labour Party, accused Starmer of “McCarthyism”.
Mish Rahman, a member of the party’s governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), accused the party of being “institutionally Islamophobic and racist” over its withdrawal of support for Shaheen.
Meanwhile, a number of Starmer’s key allies were selected as candidates for winnable Labour seats.
These include Luke Akehurst, a Labour NEC member and veteran activist whose day job is Director of We Believe in Israel, was selected for the seat of North Durham, recently vacated by outgoing MP Kevan Jones.
Camden Council leader Georgia Gould, who is Jewish, was unveiled as the Labour candidate for the newly created seat of Queen’s Park and Maida Vale.
Josh Simons, director of pro-Starmer think-tank Labour Together and also Jewish, will stand in Makerfield in the north west of England.
By law, political parties have until June 7 to nominate candidates.