Hard Left tightens its grip on Labour Party

Just 18 months ago, Labour MPS voted by 170 to 40 that they had no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn as their leader. He then put his case for staying to the party at large and won a resounding victory. Many of those MPS then expected Labour to get hammered at the general election last June, called by Theresa May because that was her expectation, too. But by securing 40 per cent of the vote, Mr Corbyn made himself unassailable even while losing his party’s third election in a row.

His detractors are now silent. Indeed, many of them are back on the frontbench, trying to convince themselves – and us – that the party leader is not really the extremist they considered him to be less than two years ago.

But their treachery to the leader will not be forgotten or forgiven. Gradually, the Left’s grip on the party machine is growing and the Blairite moderates who wanted Mr Corbyn out will soon find the boot is on the other foot.

The far Left is now more powerful than at any time since the mid-1980s and the heyday of the Militant Tendency. Labour spent a torrid few years curbing its influence only now to find it is in control of the party.

On Monday, three far-left candidates were elected to the party’s ruling National Executive Committee. They included Jon Lansman, a longtime ally of Mr Corbyn and the founder of Momentum, the Labour leader’s ideological Praetorian Guard. Mr Corbyn’s allies used this new majority to oust the long-serving chair of the party’s disputes committee, which considers allegations of sexist and anti-semitic abuse, and replace her with a Momentum director.

One aim of the Left is to force all MPS to subscribe to a set of values espoused by Mr Corbyn which many of his parliamentary colleagues ostensibly do not share. Those who fail to toe the line will risk being removed as candidates. Already a purge of centrist council candidates is under way ahead of local elections in May. They have been dumped purely on factional grounds and moderate MPS will not be spared, even if they have persuaded themselves otherwise.

Some are reportedly threatening to quit the official party whip at Westminster and sit as independents if they are deselected. Had they done that when Mr Corbyn was re-elected as leader they would have had safety in numbers. Now they face being picked off one by one.