Another week, and another headache for Keir Starmer. This time, a Labour deputy mayor has switched to the Green Party. And her parting comments sum up the whole, sorry mess Starmer’s Labour is in.
Switch
Lorna Russell is Camden’s deputy mayor. She’s also a councillor for Fortune Green ward. The public elected Russell in 2014, and the council made her deputy mayor in May. As the Camden New Journal first reported, just five months into the job, though, and she’s had it with Starmer’s Labour Party. So, on Wednesday night, she announced she was switching to the Greens.
Russell said in a letter published in the Camden New Journal:
This is something that has been weighing on my mind for some time and, after a significant period of self-reflection, I have come to the realisation that I am better able to represent my community as a Green Party councillor.
She also noted that:
I have always been guided by my core values of social justice, equality, and environmentalism, but I now see that these align most closely with the Green Party. I am proud to now represent a party that believes in building a truly fairer society and protecting the planet for future generations.
Russell made some parting shots at Labour.
Labour: ‘breaking fundamental promises’
She wrote:
I have been extremely disappointed by the Labour Party in recent years.
Nationally, I am concerned that the party lacks a coherent vision for the future, that it is prepared to break fundamental promises like those on common ownership and freedom of movement, and that it has a questionable track record on equalities.
Locally too, while I have worked hard to stand up for the community in Fortune Green, I recognise that many of the issues concerning residents in the ward have become worse, not better, over the past few months and years.
Obviously, the Greens are overjoyed at the defection. Councillor and former London mayor candidate Sian Berry told the Camden New Journal that Russell:
has always shown a huge passion for speaking up for ideas to solve environmental and social problems, and has been a fantastic and hardworking ward councillor too.
Meanwhile, the story has barely made a ripple in the corporate press.
Silence
As SKWAWKBOX reported, only BBC News has mentioned it, and then only in its “local” section. SKWAWKBOX said that if this had happened under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership there would have been a “feeding frenzy” in the corporate press. As Novara Media‘s Aaron Bastani tweeted:
The deputy mayor of the council where Keir Starmer’s seat is has switched from Labour to the Greens.
If that happened during the Corbyn leadership you could expect a week of talk radio shows, James O’Brien having a televised aneurysm & a panorama investigation.
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) October 14, 2021
Guardian would be live blogging all day today. "Top councillor defects – as it happens"
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) October 14, 2021
The Camden New Journal noted that Russell’s defection isn’t a one-off. It reported that nationally she’s the seventh councillor to switch to the Greens so far this year.
So, with Labour stagnating in the polls, losing a by-election to the SNP on Thursday 14 October, and Russell’s defection, Starmer’s chaotic tenure continues. How long it lasts is anyone’s guess.
Featured image via Sky News – YouTube
