Labour votes not to endorse Jeremy Corbyn’s candidacy because he loses votes rather than because of antisemitism, and still he remains a member of the Party
The Labour Party’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) has today voted not to endorse Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the next general election.
The motion, which passed by a vote of 22 to twelve, was brought by Party leader Sir Keir Starmer. It argued that, “in order to effect the NEC’s primary purpose to maximise the Labour Party’s prospects of winning the next general election, and to avoid any detrimental impact on the Labour Party’s standing with the electorate in the country as a whole; the Labour Party’s interests, and its political interests at the next general election, are not well served by Mr Corbyn running as a Labour Party candidate; And it is not in the best interests of the Labour Party for it to endorse Mr Corbyn as a Labour Party candidate at the next general election. Accordingly…Mr Corbyn will not be endorsed by the NEC as a candidate on behalf of the Labour Party at the next general election.”
Mr Corbyn currently sits as an independent MP, having been indefinitely suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party, but he remains a member of the Labour Party itself, which briefly suspended him in 2020 before readmitting him.
Joe Glasman, Head of Political and Government Investigations at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “We obviously welcome Labour’s decision not to endorse Jeremy Corbyn’s candidacy, given the central role that he has played in the Party’s antisemitism scandal. But the fact remains that, despite everything, he is still a member of the Labour Party. He has never been subjected to formal disciplinary proceedings or expelled. Even this decision to try to sever ties with him has been framed as being about him costing the Party votes. This is therefore not a stand against racism but a pragmatic approach to try to win elections.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism previously lodged a complaint against Mr Corbyn, holding him responsible for conduct that is prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the Labour Party, as the Leader during the period of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) shameful findings of institutional racism in the Party. Given the serious detriment that this conduct caused, we have consistently been seeking Mr Corbyn’s immediate resuspension from the Party and, if the complaint is upheld, his expulsion. On the day of the publication of the EHRC’s report, we also submitted a major complaint against Mr Corbyn and other sitting MPs. These complaints are yet to be acknowledged by the Party, and they must be investigated by an independent disciplinary process that the EHRC has demanded and Sir Keir has promised.
The Labour Party was found by the EHRC to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.
