Row over candidate selection leaves Labour facing first real crisis of campaign

Keir Starmer has faced the most challenging day of his election campaign so far (Picture: Reuters/Getty/Shutterstock)

Controversy over the treatment of left-wing Labour candidates, including academic Faiza Shaheen and veteran MP Diane Abbott, is threatening to erupt into the party’s first real crisis of the General Election campaign.

Behind-the-scenes drama burst into the open yesterday, as would-be MPs went public with the news they were not being allowed to run.

High-profile Corbynite Lloyd Russell-Moyle said his suspension by Labour HQ was the result of a ‘vexatious and politically motivated complaint’.

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And Shaheen – who was set to run against ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith in Chingford and Woodford Green – said she would be meeting with her legal team to discuss next steps after she was dropped over social media posts.

Writing on X, Abbott described the party’s moves as ‘appalling’, and asked: ‘Whose clever idea has it been to have a cull of left wingers?’

Leader Sir Keir Starmer denied that a ‘cull’ has taken place, saying: ‘I’ve said repeatedly over the last two years as we’ve selected our candidates that I want the highest-quality candidates.

‘That’s been the position for a very long time.’

Who has been blocked from standing for Labour and why?

The bulk of yesterday’s controversy focused on two candidates who were blocked from running, both of whom are on the left wing of the party.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle

Lloyd Russell-Moyle said he did not have time to clear his name and still run as an MP (Picture: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)

Just after 6pm yesterday, Lloyd Russell-Moyle announced in a post on X that he had been suspended by Labour.

First elected as the MP for Brighton Kemptown in 2017, he made headlines in December the following year when he dramatically grabbed the ceremonial mace in the House of Commons during a debate about Brexit.

But in his statement, he said he will be unable to hold on to his seat, after a ‘vexatious and politically motivated complaint’ was made by someone whose identity is unknown to him.

The complaint regards his alleged behaviour eight years ago, he said, but no further details have been made public.

Russell-Moyle added: ‘I aim to cooperate with the investigations process to clear my name, but will now take this opportunity to contribute to public life in different ways under what I hope is a Labour government.’

Faiza Shaheen

Faiza Shaheen has become a familiar sight on political TV shows (Picture: Ollie Millington/Getty Images)

Faiza Shaheen, a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, previously stood in the suburban seat in 2019 and achieved a 2% swing to Labour, though she did not win.

She was provisionally selected again in 2022, but yesterday it emerged that she had been blocked.

Reports suggested the reason for her deselection was a dossier of tweets she had liked across a span of around 10 years, which was handed to figures at the top of the party.

They included one with a link to a video from American comedian Jon Stewart about Israel, and another accusing Labour of being ‘institutionally Islamophobic’, the Times reported.

In an appearance on Newsnight, Shaheen said the party had briefed the press before telling her, and she only discovered what had happened while out campaigning in the constituency.

Speaking to the Guardian after announcing she would challenge the decision in court, she accused the party of having a ‘palpable problem with black and brown people’.

Among those criticising the decision was the Labour Muslim Network, which said the treatment of Shaheen was ‘unacceptable’.

What does this tell us about Keir Starmer’s campaign?

Keir Starmer campaigning with Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething and shadow Welsh secretary Jo Stevens today (Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

In the short term, this has meant that another day of Labour’s General Election campaign has been dominated by internal party conflicts.

Keir Starmer will be desperate to get the attention back on his policy announcements and visits to Wales today and Scotland tomorrow.

Longer term, the picture is more unclear.

Accurate or not, the portrayal of these deselections as a ‘purge’ of left-wingers could help the leader in his mission to convince the public that he has transformed his party since the Corbyn years.

But it also risks sending the message that there’s no longer room for those who lean to the left in Starmer’s Labour.

Earlier today, deputy leader Angela Rayner was arguing against that suggestion, saying: ‘You do have factions in the Labour Party. But you know, our party will only succeed if we’re a broad church.’

We might expect this row to only get deeper when the National Executive Committee (NEC) makes its final decisions on candidates early next week.

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