Category Archives: labour party

Keir Starmer Vows To Quit As Labour Leader If He Loses The Election

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He made the unusual announcement during a Radio 5Live phone-in this morning.

Asked by presenter Nicky Campbell is he will stand down should the Tories secure a fifth term in office, Starmer replied: “Yes.”

Usually, leaders dodge that question during election campaigns as it effectively puts their own personal future on the ballot paper.

However, the fact that Starmer was willing to say he will resign demonstrates that he is confident of victory.

Despite expectations that Labour’s commanding lead in the opinion polls would narrow during the campaign, the party remains around 20 points ahead with less than a week to go until election day.

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Tories Heading For Electoral Wipeout As New Poll Predicts 250-Seat Labour Majority

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Labour is on course for a 250-seat Commons majority, according to yet another poll predicting wipeout for the Tories.

The Focaldata survey forecast that the Conservatives are set to lose a staggering 262 seats on July 4, leaving the party with just 110 MPs.

Labour, meanwhile, will gain 250 to leave them on 450 seats.

The Lib Dems will also see their number of MPs almost treble to 50, according to the poll, while the SNP would slump to just 16 MPs, down from the 48 they won in 2019.

The poll was conducted using the so-called “MRP” method, which uses a bigger than normal sample.

It also uses demographic data to calculate what the result would be on a seat-by-seat basis.

The Focaldata poll echoes a number of such surveys carried out by other pollsters since the campaign started, all of which pointed to huge Labour victories.

However, Focaldata’s chief research officer, James Kanagasooriam, said the final result could be even worse for the Tories as many of the seats they are forecast to win could end up falling another way.

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Support For Tories Is ‘At Its Lowest Ever In British Polling History,’ Elections Guru Says

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Public support for the Conservatives have fallen to a historic low in polling history, John Curtice said today.

The famous pollster told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “Standing at just 20%, Conservative support is now at its lowest ever in British polling history.

“Mr Sunak, whose own personal ratings have clearly fallen, must be beginning to doubt his decision to call the election early.”

He added that a eight-point lead over Reform last week has fallen to just a four-point.

But Curtice also noticed that Labour are “being challenged by the Greens and the Lib Dems”, and support has fallen by two points – to 41%, on average.

His remarks came after another wave of polls predicted a pretty bleak result for the Conservatives when the public go to the ballot box.

A Savanta survey of 2,045 adults for The Sunday Telegraph found the party were at the lowest point since the final days of Theresa May’s time in office in early 2019, having dropped down four points to just 21%.

The same poll, conducted between 12-14 June and released on Saturday, showed Reform UK had climbed up three points to 13%.

Political research director at Savanta, Chris Hopkins, said it showed “nothing short of electoral extinction for the Conservative Party”.

“The hopes of Conservative candidates are being shot to pieces by poll after poll showing the Conservative Party in increasingly dire straits – and we’re only halfway through the campaign,” he said.

“There’s a real sense that things could still get worse for the Conservatives, and with postal votes about to drop through millions of letterboxes, time is already close to running out for Rishi Sunak.”

It comes after a separate Survation poll for Best for Britain, published in The Sunday Times, suggested the Conservatives would secure only 72 seats in the next parliament.

It predicted Labour would win 456, meaning the party would win a stomping 262 majority, the Liberal Democrats 56 seats, Reform seven and the Greens one.

Survation – which had polled 22,000 adults between 31 May and 13 June – showed the vote share would have halved from 44% in 2 019 to 24%.

Meanwhile, YouGov poll released last Thursday caused a huge stir within Westminster as it put Reform ahead of the Conservatives for the first time.

Nigel Farage’s populist party was on 19% of the vote while the Tories were on 18%, prompting his party to position themselves as the “opposition to Labour”.

Rishi Sunak downplayed this poll on Friday.

Speaking to journalists from the G7 summit in Italy, he said: “We are only halfway through this election, so I’m still fighting very hard for every vote.”

He also pledged to stay in parliament as an MP even if the Conservatives lose the election.

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‘We Want To Be A Party Of Power’: Keir Starmer Slaps Down Heckler At Labour Manifesto Launch

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Keir Starmer declared Labour is now “a party of power” as he unveiled his election manifesto.

The Labour leader had to slap down a heckler who accused him of following “Tory policies”.

“We gave up being a party of protest five years ago,” Starmer said. “We want to be a party of power. That’s not in the script but that is part of the change.”

As expected, the 133-page manifesto contained no new policies as the Labour tries to protect its huge poll lead over the Conservatives with just three weeks to go until polling day on July 4.

Instead, it contained pre-announced pledges including plans to put VAT on private school fees, extend the windfall tax on oil and gas companies, and reform planning rules to build 1.5 million more homes.

Other policies include lowering the voting age to 16, recruiting 6,500 more teachers, delivering 40,000 more NHS appointments to bring down waiting lists and setting up a Border Security Command to tackle the small boats crisis.

Rejecting accusations that he is too boring, Starmer said: “It’s not about rabbits out the hat, it’s not about pantomime. We’ve had that.

“I’m running as a candidate to be prime minister, not a candidate to run the circus.”

The Labour boss said the election was a chance for voters to “stop the chaos” of the last 14 years of Tory rule.

“I have changed the Labour Party, and I am ready to change Britain,” he said.

“Labour’s first steps for change are a downpayment on our long-term plan for the country – an immediate repair job on the damage that has been caused under 14 years of Conservative chaos and decline.

“We know we can’t wave a magic wand and pretend that everything will be fixed overnight.

“But with Labour, our first steps for change will deliver economic stability, cut NHS waiting times, launch a new Border Security Command, create Great British Energy, crack down on ant-isocial behaviour and recruit 6,500 new teachers. They are the first steps towards our long-term plan.

“But to get change, you have to vote for it. The choice at this election is another five years of chaos under the Conservatives, with people paying £4,800 more on their mortgages, or change with Labour. It’s time to stop the chaos, turn the page and start rebuilding Britain.”

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Diane Abbott Confirmed As Labour Candidate For General Election

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Diane Abbott has been formally confirmed as a Labour candidate for the general election, following a meeting of the party’s ruling National Executive Committee.

The veteran left-winger will be allowed to stand for re-election in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, the seat she has held since 1987.

Abbott, Britain’s first black female MP, was embroiled in a bitter row over whether she would be allowed to stand.

She was suspended by Labour last year for suggesting that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people were not subject to racism “all their lives”.

She apologised, withdrew the comments and was eventually given the Labour whip back last week.

But party sources briefed The Times that Labour intended to block Abbott from seeking election for the party.

This triggered a widespread and vocal backlash from her supporters, with Abbott accusing Keir Starmer of engineering a “cull of leftwingers”.

Starmer U-turned on Friday by saying Abbott was “free” to be a Labour general election candidate and she later confirmed that she planned to do so.

Labour’s ruling NEC met on Tuesday to confirm the candidates for the election, with Sky News reporting Abbott was on the list rubber-stamped.

In a further sign of the bad blood between Starmer and Abbott, on Sunday Abbott tweeted “more lies from Starmer” above an article in which he claimed to have “more respect” for her than she realises.

The row over whether Abbott would be allowed to stand overshadowed much of the start of Labour’s election campaign.

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Labour Denies Claims It Is Offering Peerages To Left-Wing MPs Who Promise To Step Down

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Labour’s Yvette Cooper has denied claims the party is offering peerages to left-wing MPs who step down to make way for Keir Starmer’s preferred candidates.

The shadow home secretary rejected a new report from The Times which claims some people who were Labour MPs– up until parliament was dissolved last week – could be elevated to the House of Lords if they gave up their seats.

She told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “No party can do that, it’s not the way the system works.”

She said there is a “whole process” where an independent committee vets nominations to the Lords, so no one cannot be promised a seat there by any party leader.

The report comes after a tumultuous week for the frontrunners in the general election as Labour has faced several accusations of trying to purge any left-wing candidates.

Former leader Jeremy Corbyn, Faiza Shaheen and Lloyd Russell-Moyle were all prevented from standing for Labour in recent weeks.

Starmer faced further backlash after refusing to say whether veteran MP Diane Abbott would be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate – prompting her and her supporters to accuse him of “culling” the Labour left over the last week.

Abbott lost the whip in 2023 after claiming Irish, Traveller and Jewish people only experienced “prejudice” not racism – a claim she later apologised for and withdrew.

The whip was returned to her in May but there was widespread speculation the party was planning to ban her from standing.

Starmer denied all claims of a purge, saying he just wants”the highest quality candidates”.

He also said that the decision around Abbott was up to the party’s national executive committee, and not him.

Then even Starmer’s deputy Angela Rayner said publicly that Abbott should be allowed to stand.

In an embarrassing U-turn, he finally said on Friday that the left-winger was free to represent his party.

Abbott is yet to confirm whether she will represent the party and said she will not be making a comment until she is officially endorsed by Labour’s National Executive Committee next week.

However she told Sky News that the “narrative does look positive”.

Cooper also told Phillips on Sunday that she assumes Abbott will be the Labour candidate for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, the seat she has held since 1987.

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Tories Heading For Election Wipeout As Mega Poll Predicts They Could End Up With Just 66 Seats

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The Tories are heading for wipeout after a new mega poll predicted they are on course to win just 66 seats at next month’s general election.

The survey of more than 10,000 people suggests Keir Starmer is on course for power with a Commons majority of 336.

Among the big-name Tories who would lose their seats are deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, home secretary James Cleverly and defence secretary Grant Shapps.

According to the poll, by Electoral Calculus and Find Out Now for GB News and the Daily Mail, Labour is on 46% – a staggering 27 points ahead of the Conservatives, who are on just 19%.

Converted into seats, that would leave Labour on 493 – nearly 300 more than they won at the 2019 election.

The Tories would plummet to just 66 seats, leaving them with just seven more MPs than the Lib Dems on 59.

The SNP is also on course for a bad night, dropping more than 20 seats to 26.

Electoral Calculus said: “Our figures indicate a substantial Labour landslide, with Keir Starmer gaining a majority of over 300 seats at Westminster.

“The Conservatives would have fewer than 100 seats. They would be the official opposition, but they would have less than half of the opposition MPs – 72 out of 157.”

The result would be even better than Tony Blair achieved in the New Labour landslide of 1997, when the party won 419 seats.

By contrast, the Tories would suffer their worst result since at least 1900.

Other cabinet members on course to lose their seats are potential leadership contenders Penny Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch, as well as Claire Coutinho, Mel Stride, Gillian Keegan and Mark Harper.

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Jon Stewart Slams Labour Party For Ousting Candidate Who Liked A Tweet Quoting His Israel Skit

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Jon Stewart had some choice words for the Labour Party this week.

The former Daily Show host, who returned to the program last year after stepping away in 2015, expressed outrage on Wednesday after Labour candidate Faiza Shaheen was suspended from her post for “liking” a tweet that linked to a 2014 Daily Show segment about Israel.

“This is the dumbest thing The UK has done since electing Boris Johnson… what the actual fuck,” Stewart wrote Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in response to a tweet from Mehdi Hasan.

“Hey @jonstewart,” Hasan’s tweet read, “not sure if you’re following the Jon-Stewart-related news out of the UK but Labour parliamentary candidate and Muslim woman @faizashaheen has just been suspended tonight from the Labour Party for liking on Twitter this old Israel video sketch of yours.”

Shaheen joined Labour in 2015 and became a star of their parliamentary constituency in London’s Chingford and Woodford Green constituency in 2018.

The economist, who hoped to roll back conservative welfare reforms, was endorsed in 2019 by actor Hugh Grant.

Those ambitions stalled on Wednesday when, following weeks of door-to-door campaigning with her newborn baby, Shaheen learned via email that the Labour Party had dropped her, after the Jewish Labour Movement flagged her social media activity as allegedly antisemitic.

The Daily Show clip showed Stewart trying to discuss Israel when his colleagues ― in a parody of furious defenders of Israel and Palestinians alike ― repeatedly shouted him down, accusing him of being a “self-hating Jew,” a “Zionist pig” and various other epithets.

Labour Party candidate Faiza Shaheen, seen here campaigning in 2019, is now blocked from running in this year's election.
Labour Party candidate Faiza Shaheen, seen here campaigning in 2019, is now blocked from running in this year’s election.

Nicola Tree via Getty Images

Shaheen “liked” a May 12 tweet from Substack writer Philippe Lemoine that linked to the Daily Show clip. In the tweet, Lemoine wrote: “Every time you say something even mildly critical of Israel, you’re immediately assailed by scores of hysterical people who explain to you why you’re completely wrong, how you’re biased against Israel.”

Lemoine’s tweet also suggested that the people who harshly condemn any and all criticism of Israel are “not just random people,” but are “mobilised by professional organisations” ― a claim reminiscent of various antisemitic conspiracy theories, which Shaheen acknowledged on Wednesday during an appearance on BBC Newsnight.

“I know what’s wrong with it, of course ― the line that’s there about the, you know, they’re in ‘professional organisations,’” she told presenter Victoria Derbyshire. “It plays into a trope, and I absolutely don’t agree with that and I’m sorry about that.”

“I’m just in a bit of a state of shock, to be honest,” Shaheen said elsewhere on the program. “I’ve worked that seat for a long time. I just had a baby. I went back, I had a C-section. I was on doors, knocking, six weeks after my baby was born … Suddenly, I’m out campaigning and my phone’s blowing up.”

Last year, Scream star Melissa Barrera was fired from an upcoming installment in the slasher series after making pro-Palestinian statements that drew accusations of antisemitism. Oscar-winning director Jonathan Glazer, who is Jewish, was also the object of widespread condemnation after he criticised Israel’s ongoing bombing campaign in Gaza.

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Tories Shamed Over UK’s Polluted Water Supply: ‘They Turned A Blind Eye’

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The Conservatives have been torn apart by a Labour MP after thousands were impacted by a parasite in their water supply last week.

Approximately 16,000 households and businesses in Brixham, Devon, have been urged to boil their water before use after traces of cryptosporidium were found and some people were hospitalised with the bug.

South West Water has promised to pay £3.5m in compensation to customers impacted by the diarrhoea-inducing parasite – but others are still holding the government responsible.

Speaking in the Commons on Monday, shadow minister Emma Hardy said: “Another day, another example of the depths of failure that this government have taken us.

“I cannot believe that I am about to say this, but after 14 long years of Conservative rule, in 21st Century Britain, our water is no longer safer to drink.

“The government will of course be flailing around, desperate for someone else to blame, but this crisis is theirs.”

She called for the government to take responsibility for the ongoing issue, blaming them for weakening regulations around the UK’s Victorian-era sewage system.

“They turned a blind eye and left water companies to illegally pump a tidal wave of raw sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas,” Hardy said.

The Labour MP recalled that her party had warned the Conservatives last week about the health implications of the UK’s contaminated water.

She said: “Is this an example of their plan working? Is this what they think success looks like? And now this, the icing on the cake of failure – a parasite outbreak in Brixham, with South West Water?”

More than 100 people have reported symptoms and two others, including a 13-year-old boy, have been admitted to hospital.

“This is appalling. Enough is enough,” Hardy said.

She called for the government to put the water companies under special regulations, to make law-breaking bosses face criminal charges and for company bonuses to stop until the crisis is addressed.

Concerns about the cleanliness of UK water has been a pressing concern for some years now.

According to Surfers Against Sewage, there were more than 584,000 discharges of raw sewage into UK waterways last year alone – and 75% of UK rivers pose a serious risk to human health.

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‘Keir Starmer’s Going To Kick Me’: Wes Streeting Embarrassed After Forgetting One Of Labour’s 6 Pledges

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He said: “Economic stability, cut NHS waiting lists, 6,500 extra teachers, Secure Border Command, Great British Energy and … what’s the one I’ve missed? I’ve put them out of order.”

As Kuenssberg and her other guests laughed, Streeting pulled a card containing the pledges out of his jacket pocket and said: “Crack down on anti-social behaviour.

“The annoying thing is I was preparing for that question and I still fluffed it. I might as well just go home now.”

Asked about his gaffe while appearing later on LBC, Streeting said: “Don’t even go there. You have no idea how hard I’ve been kicking [myself].

“I knew that question would come up, you spend time preparing for it, in the moment I had a total brain freeze. I think Keir Starmer is going to kick me on Monday.”

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