After a tense weekend for the Labour Party, Richard Hermer – the Attorney General – faced MPs at a Parliamentary Labour Party meeting this evening.
On Thursday 22 January, Andrew Gwynne announced his resignation as the MP for Gorton and Denton, triggering a by-election. After submitting an application to the officers group on Labour’s National Executive Committee – which included the Prime Minister – the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, was yesterday informed he would not be permitted to stand as the party’s candidate. Since then several MPs from across the party have expressed public and private outrage at the NEC’s decision. Hermer was the first cabinet minister to address the PLP since Burnham was blocked.
A close ally of Keir Starmer, the Attorney General told the meeting that the party’s focus shouldn’t be on internal politics, but on the government’s successes over the past few days. The Attorney General pointed to Labour’s £1.5bn investment in cultural venues, Shabana Mahmood’s recent policing reforms and the prime minister’s recent exposure of Tory opportunism at PMQs, among other things. Hermer told gathered MPs: “What we are achieving as a government is radical, deeply principled and nothing short of an attempt to rework the state, so it is fairer and more equal for all.”
Hermer made the case for the Prime Minister’s role as an international leader, nodding to his experience working with Starmer when the pair were both human rights lawyers. “I can say with all honesty that Keir was the most able and principled lawyer of his generation and his belief in public service is every bit as strong today as it was then,” he said. He pointed out – to reported applause – that the PM had stood up to President Donald Trump’s “disgraceful comments about our service people who have given the ultimate sacrifice” (referring to Trump’s recently retracted claim that UK troops avoided the frontline in Afghanistan).
Perhaps in a nod to the events of this weekend – Hermer reassured MPs that he does not “underestimate the political challenge we face. Or how many people do not trust politicians and will not do so until they can at least feel we are making a difference.”
But was it enough to quell the disquiet among Labour MPs?
On Monday, two letters began swirling among soft-left backbenchers – including one from the Tribune Group – putting pressure on the NEC to re-think its decision. Over twenty four hours, several MPs have made their disquiet known, including the north west MP, Anneliese Midgley, who described the NEC’s decision as a “huge mistake”. When asked how they felt about the events of this weekend, one MP on the left of the party responded with an exploding head emoji. Some MPs skipped the meeting altogether. (One said that as it was Hermer speaking it was unlikely to be that “spicy”.) Another bluntly described their party’s fate to the New Statesman: “It’s the end.”
Only two MPs mentioned Burnham during the PLP meeting. Richard Burgon, the secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group, asked whether the party leadership was concerned by a survey that found only 8 per cent of residents of Greater Manchester agreed with the blocking of Andy Burnham, which the prime minister voted for. Anna Turley, the chair of the Labour Party, reportedly responded “the decision has been made and we look forward to campaigning”. Kim Johnson – the MP for Liverpool Riverside – said local members in Gorton and Denton would be upset at not having the opportunity to choose Burnham as a candidate.
Though the first meeting of the PLP since Burnham’s blocking may not have been as torturous as the government expected, concern is certainly still brewing among MPs over the events of this weekend. Today, the date for the by-election in Gorton and Denton was set for 26 February – only five weeks away. As one MP pointed out, some in the PLP are surprised the timetable set by the government is “so quick”. Whoever is eventually selected as the Labour candidate in Gorton and Denton, MPs will be expected to get behind them. But internal party grumbling certainly isn’t going anywhere yet.
[Further reading: Second complaint letter as Burnham grumbling continues]
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