UK Labour MPs Divided on Starmer’s Decision to Block Corbyn Candidacy

Jeremy Corbyn, then-leader of the Labour Party, pauses while speaking at the vote count in his Islington North constituency in London, on Dec. 12, 2019. Leon Neal/Getty Images

UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer’s decision to block his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn from standing for Labour at the next election has caused a stir among party ranks, with MPs on the far left openly voicing opposition to his move.

Starmer said on Wednesday that Labour is now “unrecognisable” from its form during Corbyn’s leadership in 2015 to 2020 when it was plagued by allegations of antisemitism.

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer speaking in east London, following the Equality and Human Rights Commission's announcement that it has concluded its monitoring of the Labour Party, on Feb. 15, 2023. Stefan Rousseau/PA Media

Corbyn was suspended from the party in October 2020 after he said the findings of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) investigation into allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party “dramatically overstated” the problem “for political reasons.”He got his party membership back in the following month, but Starmer has refused to give back his party whip, which means that he has been kept out of the parliamentary Labour Party and has continued to be classed as an “independent” MP.

In a speech on Wednesday, Starmer welcomed the EHRC’s decision to lift the party out of two years of special measures over its past failings on antisemitism.

The Labour leader reiterated his vow that anyone who plays down antisemitism will be treated with “zero patience or tolerance” and acknowledged it is not “the end of the road” for tackling the issue.

He said Labour “will never again be a party captured by narrow interest” and “will never again be brought to its knees by racism or bigotry.”

He invited those on the far left of Labour to leave the party if they oppose his reforms, and confirmed Corbyn himself will be stripped of his candidacy for Labour.

The announcement angered Corbyn and his allies, who accused Starmer of violating Labour’s “values.”

‘Denial of Due Process’

Corbyn called Starmer’s decision “a flagrant attack on the democratic rights” of Labour Party members in Islington North, the north London constituency he has represented for 40 years.

“It is up to them—not party leaders—to decide who their candidate should be. Any attempt to block my candidacy is a denial of due process, and should be opposed by anybody who believes in the value of democracy,” the former party leader said in a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon.

John McDonnell, an ally of Corbyn who served as his shadow chancellor, warned on Thursday that Starmer is making a “mistake.”

“The issue for us is that we were created as a coalition of a whole range of different political views, a broad church as we describe it, and the norms of our party, the normative values of our parties, is to have that sort of mutual respect for different views and hold together,” he told the BBC.

“That includes ensuring that we have democratic procedures, where the rights of our party members is to enable them to select the candidates of their choosing, and to undermine that flies in the face of everything that we stand for.

“And that’s why I think it’s a mistake and I think it’s a mistake for Keir to try and bar Jeremy Corbyn from standing. But it’s not just about Jeremy, it’s much more fundamental than that.”

‘Relic of Yesterday’

But other Labour MPs have voiced support for the decision to strip Corbyn of his candidacy.

Dame Margaret Hodge told the BBC on Wednesday: “I cannot think of any circumstances whatsoever under which Jeremy could stand as a candidate for the Labour Party at the next general election.

“He’s been a master of his own destiny, he knew what he did in the past, he knew what he did when the EHRC came out and he’s only got himself to blame.

“I’ve moved on from Corbyn, the party has definitely moved on from Corbyn, the country’s moved on from Corbyn if you see what Labour is gaining now in the polls and I think Corbyn is just part of the past, he’s a relic of yesterday.”

Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, also backed Starmer’s decision.

She told reporters on Thursday: “Keir Starmer was really clear about this—that he was going to tackle the stain of antisemitism in the Labour Party. He was going to be clear that Labour has changed and those big changes have taken place since 2019.

“He’s also been very clear with everyone what standards had to be met, and on everyone who wants to stand as a Labour candidate to be a Labour MP on what standards needed to be met. And he’s making sure that that happens and I pay tribute to Keir’s leadership in doing that. The Labour Party has changed.”

She noted “we have come a long way in a short period of time” to be “the party of patriotism, the party of equality.”

Lily Zhou and PA Media contributed to this report.