UK
Starmer Purge of Labour Left Risks Undermining UK Campaign
- Labour aides express concern over treatment of Abbott, Shaheen
- No decision taken yet to bar Abbott from standing: Starmer
Keir Starmer
Photographer: Hollie Adams/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Keir Starmer’s purge of the left wing of his Labour Party has had a single, laser-focused aim: to make Britain’s opposition electable again after more than a decade in the cold. But an escalating row over the treatment of the UK’s first Black woman MP risks undermining his control of the UK election campaign.
On the face of it, Starmer’s reforms have restored his party’s fortunes, leading to a string of by-election victories on historic swings from Rishi Sunak’s governing Conservatives and a polling lead around 20 points in recent surveys. That suggests the Labour leader is firmly on his way to enter Downing Street as prime minister after the July 4 general election.