Cummings is going, party members are suspended and we await NEC results

The news is once again dominated by No 10 drama as Dominic Cummings has confirmed on the record that he will leave Downing Street by Christmas. It is regarded as a welcome gift by many Tory MPs. While he was clearly an effective campaigner for Leave and the Conservatives in December, Cummings wreaked havoc in government. He is credited with the new lateral flow tests that offer much hope in the Covid crisis, but the new Sonia Khan pay out resulting from his sacking of the adviser is just one example of the acrimonious operation run under his watch. And of course we will not quickly forget how Cummings undermined public trust and health by breaking the rules during a pandemic and subsequently telling ridiculous lies in an entirely inappropriate press conference.

But our focus is on Labour, and we have plenty to cover. We reported yesterday on members being threatened by the party with investigation as a result of considering motions on Jeremy Corbyn’s suspension. Bristol West Labour did hold that meeting, but believes that it was carried out in accordance with the rules because the motion made no reference to confidential information and no debate was permitted (it was simply voted on and passed). Yet general secretary David Evans had warned that the party would “not hesitate to take appropriate action – including against individual members”, and this has been followed through. LabourList understands that the local chair and co-secretary have now been suspended, as well as several other members for tweeting that the regional director should be sacked.

The former leader’s suspension was just one of the many topics discussed in my interview with Jon Lansman, now published in full – and it’s an interesting read, if I do say so myself. The co-founder and ex-chair of Momentum expressed regret about factionalism both past and continuing on Labour’s ruling body, which he is leaving this week, and regret about the bid to scrap Tom Watson’s post, though not the successful Labour Students one. He also shares thoughts on Labour antisemitism, expressing frustration at “the level of denial” in the party, and disagrees with both Corbyn’s reaction to the report and his suspension. You can read all this, plus his reflections on Rebecca Long-Bailey’s campaign, the future of the left and more, here.

Lansman is worried about the outcome of the Labour NEC elections. Will his assessment of the left’s strategy be proved right? The voting system change implemented under Keir Starmer will make it difficult to compare the results being released today to previous ‘winner-takes-all’ years in the members’ section, but interesting to analyse. The reform guarantees a factional mix among the nine local party reps, which ensures there will be no ‘[Labour to Win or Momentum] sweeps the board’ headline. Yet there are things to look out for: whether the trade union picks for youth and disabled reps will be overturned by members, and how many candidates each slate gets in the members’ section. Can the soft left win more than Ann Black? Will the left-right balance be equal or tilted in one side’s favour? Read my explainer, and keep an eye on LabourList for news of the final results later.