Gisela leads f lood of Corbyn MPs quitting before election
THE Labour exodus intensified last night as prominent Leave campaigner Gisela Stuart led a string of MPs in announcing they were quitting Parliament.
With polls suggesting a Tory avalanche, Mrs Stuart last night told her local party she would not contest her Birmingham Edgbaston seat in the June 8 election. It came just hours after she refused to say whether she supported Jeremy Corbyn’s bid to become Prime Minister.
The decision is hugely symbolic because Mrs Stuart was the first Labour candidate to gain a seat from the Conservatives on the night of Tony Blair’s landslide election victory in 1997. But at the last election her majority fell to just 2,706, meaning she is hugely vulnerable to defeat.
She was joined yesterday by Iain Wright, the MP who helped expose BHS boss Sir Philip Green. He said he would not be fighting Hartlepool, a former rock- solid Labour seat which is now threatened by Ukip.
Ex-Home Secretary Alan Johnson, former work and pensions secretary Andrew Smith, former shadow Europe minister Pat Glass and Middlesbrough MP Tom Blenkinsop have all said they will go. Mr Blenkinsop said he had ‘significant and irreconcilable differences with the current Labour leadership’.
Wolverhampton South West MP Rob Marris also said he was standing down last night. And former Health Secretary Andy Burnham – who is expected to win the contest to become mayor of Greater Manchester next month – confirmed he would stand down as MP for Leigh.
Other MPs, such as Slough’s Fiona Mactaggart, are also thought to be considering whether to step down. The exo- dus comes as former leader Lord Kinnock said he did not think he would see another Labour government in his lifetime.
Polls show Labour trailing the Conservatives by as much as 21 points – enough to give Theresa May a majority of 140.
In an e-mail to her constituency, Mrs Stuart said: ‘After 22 years of campaigning and 20 years of having had the privilege of being the MP for this diverse, forever surprising and wonderful marginal seat, I know when it is time to stand down and pass on the baton.’
Labour MPs have until today to tell the party whether they intend to defend their seats.