A long-time Labour councillor and former city mayor has resigned from the party. Crucially, the Labour Party stalwart has left the party for its increasingly right-wing agenda. A big part of the councillor’s reasoning centred round Starmer and the party’s “morally wrong” position on Palestine and “abandonment of the working class”.
Of course, she joins a wave of recent resignations over Labour’s apologism for Israel’s genocide of Gaza and its abysmal treatment of Black and brown members.
Labour resignations
On 23 June, the Express and Star reported how long-serving councillor and former mayor of Wolverhampton Claire Drake resigned from the Labour Party.
Notably, in a letter, Drake penned that:
The Labour Party has strayed from the core values I once shared with the party. My political beliefs prevent me from compromising my principles for a party that appears to have none.
My commitment to the people of Wolverhampton remains unwavering, but changes within the Labour Party compel me to resign.
The Labour Party’s commitment to continued austerity and Brexit will further undermine jobs, education, and opportunities in our city. This abandonment of the working class is inexcusable.
I will only support and vote for a party committed to rejoining the European Union, reversing austerity measures, and ending, for example, the dumping of waste in our water systems.
The Labour Party’s stance on Palestine is morally wrong and ignores the suffering of the Palestinian people. I support the United Nations and the UN Human Rights Council calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, as well as an immediate ban on arms sales to Israel as well as sanctions.
Drake’s departure follows a swathe of similar resignations from the party. For instance, on the 4 June, seven Slough councillors quit the party. As the Canary’s HG reported:
Both members and councillors in Slough pointed to systemic corruption, racism, and betrayal by the party leadership. In their resignation letter they stated:
We must stay true to our values and conscience, even if the party we once believed in has abandoned them.
The southeast regional board has ignored our grievances. Evidence of selection rigging, GDPR breaches, and membership abuse remains unaddressed. Instead, priority has been given to other party matters, allowing those implicated to retain senior positions and contest elections under the Labour banner.
Notably, the councillors cited the party’s treatment of Faiza Shaheen and Diane Abbott as core motivations for their decision. In particular, they slammed the Labour’s censure of candidates speaking out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Now, Drake has joined these councillors taking a stand.
A “wake-up call” to leave Labour in the dust
In her letter, Drake wrote how she hoped her departure would:
serve as a wake-up call to those who still believe in the original values of the Labour Party.
For Drake’s part, this has meant stepping out of the shadow of Starmer’s morally bankrupt Labour Party. Now, she will serve her Park Ward constituents as an independent. She signed off her letter lambasting Labour’s corporate capture in the NHS:
I will continue to serve as a Park Ward councillor, as it is my duty to my constituents, having been elected for my beliefs in justice, equality, and a National Health Service run by and for the people, not for the profit of shareholders, which Labour now seem committed to.
With Labour’s moral vacuum on everything from austerity to Gaza, she isn’t the only one striking out beyond the reach of Labour.
The Canary has been amplifying independent candidates challenging the grip of the main political parties. Many of these are former disillusioned Labour members themselves.
Former Labour councillor Shanell Johnson is standing against Labour incumbent John Cryer in Leyton and Wanstead. Her reasons for leaving the party mirror Drake’s and the councillors in Slough. She has expressed that:
I stood down as a Labour Councillor because the party moved away from my values. I could not stay silent about the indiscriminate bombing of innocent children in Gaza, the racism, and the abandonment of social values.
Another Labour-turned-independent is socialist Sam Gorst. Gorst joined the party under Corbyn, but now stands against Labour incumbent Maria Eagle in Liverpool Garston. He too criticizes his Labour opponent’s corporate capitalist stance and warmongering:
I am standing against Labour’s Maria Eagle in Liverpool Garston. Her voting record makes clear that she is a pro-capitalist and unconditional in waging wars against our Arab counterparts.
She is against the working class and achieving world peace.
Of course, they also join previous Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, standing for the first time against his former party as an independent.
In other words, the mass exodus of Starmer’s unprincipled Labour Party continues apace as the UK rapidly approaches the general election.
In short, Labour should stop taking leftwing member’s support for granted. So long as the party supports genocide and continues its assault on marginalised communities, those with integrity won’t stick around. Instead, as the independent candidates in this election are showing, they’ll stand against the party at the ballot box.
Feature image via
