Labour Meltdown as Benn Sacking Triggers Domino Effect

A meltdown is taking place in Labour’s Shadow Cabinet today, as the sacking of Shadow Foreign Secretary Hillary Benn triggers resignations by several key members of Jeremy Corbyn’s team.

According to media reports, Benn was sacked in a midnight phone call, after he had apparently tried to rally support for a Shadow Cabinet revolt against leader Jeremy Corbyn during the Saturday. Corbyn has long been considered a lukewarm supporter of the EU, and he has been conspicuously absent for much of the campaign leading up to the June 23 Brexit referendum. He has been heavily criticized in the aftermath of the Leave vote because of his apparent lack of will and ability to convince the Labour voters to Remain.

Benn’s sacking has led to a domino effect of resignations among Benn’s Shadow Cabinet colleagues.

As of 1:41PM (June 26, BST), the following members have left the Shadow Cabinet since midnight:

Hillary Benn, Shadow Foreign Secretary (sacked)
Seema Malhotra, Shadow Chief Secretary (resigned)
Heidi Alexander, Shadow Health (resigned)
Lucy Powell, Shadow Education (resigned)
Lillian Greenwood, Shadow Transport (resigned)
Ian Murray, Shadow Scotland (resigned)
Kerry McCarthy, Shadow Environment (resigned)
Gloria de Piero, Shadow Young People (resigned)

Updated (June 26, 22:03 BST)

While a number of senior trade unionists in Labour’s National Executive Committee rallied behind Corbyn following this morning’s resignations from the Shadow Cabinet, other senior figures have joined the list of resignees and internal party critics. Shadow Justice Secretary Lord Falconer has tendered his resignation, as have Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Chris Bryant and Shadow Attorney General Karl Turner. Labour party deputy leader Tom Watson, hitherto seen as a unifying presence in the Labour Party since Corbyn’s surprise rise to the leadership in 2015, has publicly expressed his disappointment in Corbyn’s midnight sacking of Hilary Benn.  Even backbench MP’s such as Stephen Kinnock, son the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, and Wrexham MP Ian Lucas have withdrawn their support for Corbyn, saying that he belongs to a “different era” and that the party “urgently” needs a new leader.

Cover photo of Hillary Benn, then Minister of the Environment, during COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009. By Neil Palmer (CIAT) on a CC BY-SA 2.0 license.