Skip to footer

Labour Party revolts against leader over EU vote result

Some senior party officials have blamed the referendum result on a poor opposition campaign from Jeremy Corbyn. Two senior members have left their posts since the vote, and more may follow.

|
Neil Hall/Reuters
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on immigration and moving on after the EU referendum, in central London, Britain June 25, 2016.
  • By Gregory Katz Associated Press

| LONDON

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing an open revolt as political turmoil continues to grip Britain after the country voted to leave the European Union.

The main opposition party was in turmoil Sunday with two members of the shadow cabinet leaving their posts in a direct challenge to Mr. Corbyn.

Corbyn first fired shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn after Mr. Benn told Corbyn he had lost confidence in Corbyn's ability to lead the party.

"There is no confidence that we will be able to win a general election as long as Jeremy remains the leader," Benn told the BBC's flagship breakfast show. "He's a good and decent man, but he is not a leader. And that's a problem."

Benn's dismissal was followed by the resignation of Labour health spokeswoman Heidi Alexander, who released a letter saying a change of leadership was needed.

"Those who will be hit hardest by the economic shock associated with the vote to leave the EU need a strong opposition, as do those communities who fear rising levels of intolerance, hatred and division," she wrote.

However, Corbyn's allies said he would remain in his post.

Labour legislator and Corbyn backer Diane Abbott said Sunday morning Corbyn would not step down despite the mounting opposition, adding he is still backed by party members.

The vote to quit the EU was widely seen as a stinging rejection of left-wing Labour, with many traditional Labour districts voting in defiance of the party leadership's campaign to stay in the bloc.

Many party figures said Corbyn had not campaigned effectively and had done too little to keep Britain inside the EU bloc.

Corbyn was elected party leader in September with strong support from the left wing of the party but he has not enjoyed similar backing from the party's legislators, some of whom are now calling for him to step down.

The perceived mishandling of the EU campaign bodes poorly for any future attempt by Labour to retake its parliamentary majority from the ruling Conservative Party, which itself is in limbo following the decision by Prime Minister David Cameron to quit in the fall.

There were indications Sunday that other members of the shadow cabinet, an advisory board of senior party figures, may step down to intensify the challenge to Corbyn's position.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Labour Party revolts against leader over EU vote result
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2016/0626/Labour-Party-revolts-against-leader-over-EU-vote-result
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe