Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty ImagesThis week’s row over the future of Diane Abbott must be understood in the context of the decades-long battle for supremacy between different wings of the Labour Party. It’s a fight between the radical flank on the left and those who believe their tradition is closer to the public’s heartbeat. History suggests the outcome of that battle can have a direct impact on their election results. The party’s two worst defeats in modern times were under Michael Foot and Jeremy Corbyn, both from the left-wing tradition. Of course, there were particular circumstances in both cases. Sir Keir Starmer may have been part of Mr Corbyn’s team but the Left’s power has waned under his leadership. He has sought to prise their fingers from the party machine and gain control, you might say, “piece by piece”. But the latest piece of that process has resulted in a “massive own goal”, as one Labour source described it to me. It was widely thought that after a long career as the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Diane Abbott – the first black woman to be elected to Parliament and an icon on the Left – would want to stand down from her seat at this general election. Just after the election date was announced, she was brought back into the fold as a Labour MP after a long suspension over comments she made in a letter to a newspaper that were seen as antisemitic and also offensive to Irish and Traveller people. Now, it was thought, she could depart politics with dignity, rather than being handed her P45. But all that changed when a newspaper report appeared suggesting she would be banned from standing even if she wanted to.“She was looking for a way to stand down with dignity then it was blown all up,” one shadow cabinet member told me. …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnGetty ImagesCopyright: Getty ImagesThis week’s row over the future of Diane Abbott must be understood in the context of the decades-long battle for supremacy between different wings of the Labour Party. It’s a fight between the radical flank on the left and those who believe their tradition is closer to the public’s heartbeat. History suggests the outcome of that battle can have a direct impact on their election results. The party’s two worst defeats in modern times were under Michael Foot and Jeremy Corbyn, both from the left-wing tradition. Of course, there were particular circumstances in both cases. Sir Keir Starmer may have been part of Mr Corbyn’s team but the Left’s power has waned under his leadership. He has sought to prise their fingers from the party machine and gain control, you might say, “piece by piece”. But the latest piece of that process has resulted in a “massive own goal”, as one Labour source described it to me. It was widely thought that after a long career as the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Diane Abbott – the first black woman to be elected to Parliament and an icon on the Left – would want to stand down from her seat at this general election. Just after the election date was announced, she was brought back into the fold as a Labour MP after a long suspension over comments she made in a letter to a newspaper that were seen as antisemitic and also offensive to Irish and Traveller people. Now, it was thought, she could depart politics with dignity, rather than being handed her P45. But all that changed when a newspaper report appeared suggesting she would be banned from standing even if she wanted to.“She was looking for a way to stand down with dignity then it was blown all up,” one shadow cabinet member told me. …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
