LABOUR membership is plummeting according to figures reported to the party’s national executive committee this week.
It has dropped by 25,000 in the first two months of 2024 alone, doubtless as a consequence of the Starmer leadership’s full support for Israeli aggression in Gaza.
The total is now 355,000, more than 200,000 down on its Corbyn-era peak.
This contrasts with the ascending membership figures in the period before Labour won the 1997 general election.
The financial impact of the drop will be mitigated, at the very least, by the party’s increasing reliance on large donations from rich backers.
In a further setback for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, an attempt to bounce the executive into endorsing a new undemocratic structure for Labour BAME members failed, despite prior commitments to establish a democratic and self-organising body.
The NEC voted by 13 to 10 to defer action on the plan, a rare rebuke for a leadership used to getting its own way on the party’s leading committee.
The leadership has been repeatedly criticised for its indifference to black people’s concerns, including privately by Doreen Lawrence, an indifference reflected in the suspension for almost a year of Britain’s first black female MP, Diane Abbott, from the parliamentary whip.
Party general secretary David Evans rallied to the defence of the Anonyvoter online voting system, designed by two of his associates.
It has been at the centre of allegations of malpractice in at least two parliamentary candidate selections, with some insiders suggesting the number of selections corrupted by it could be as many as 40.
Mr Evans said that criticisms of the system were fake news, but did not address substantive concerns that the system is open to manipulation by whoever is operating it.
NEC member Mish Rahman told the Star that he was “not adequately reassured by the party’s response to these issues.”
“Plainly, adequate safeguards are not in place regarding the use of Anonyvoter in Labour’s parliamentary selection, and there is a lack of transparency which is damaging to confidence among members and the public,” he said.
Two sitting Labour MPs deselected in contests in which the system was used, Beth Winter and Sam Tarry, have gone public with their concerns and are considering legal action.
