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  1. Politics
24 September 2016

How to leave the Labour party

No longer willing to live and die beneath the red flag? How to escape.

By Julia Rampen

Perhaps you aren’t exactly happy about the leader of the party. Perhaps you voted for Brexit and are finding your inner Kipper. Or perhaps you’d just rather spend those subs on beer.

So you go to the Labour party website, and funnily enough, despite this being a very popular Google search term, there is no section on how to leave. Once you have joined, it seems, you  are Labour for life. There are whole forums on the internet dedicated to working out a way to quit. 

This is how you can leave the Labour party. 

There are two ways.

1. You can write abusive things on social media, join the Conservative Party and tweet enthusiastically about it or go campaigning for The Greens and tweet about it too. The nuclear option is of course going for another left-wing party like the Socialists Workers Party or the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty.

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2. You can cancel your direct debit, and contact the Labour party headquarters telling them you are leaving at The Labour Party, Labour Central, Kings Manor, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6PA. This is more boring, but more predictable, and it means you can join again when you are filled with regret for abandoning your comrades.

 

But be warned, leaving Labour is a bit like leaving the Catholic Church – you can never completely succeed. During the leadership contest, there were reports of lists of ex-Labour members still held by local activists, in the hope that one day, one day, they might come back. 

Also, if you join a union, you’re probably affiliated anyway. 

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Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
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  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
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  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU