Labour has expelled Alistair Campbell from the party after he revealed he had voted for the Liberal Democrats in the EU elections.
Alistair Campbell, formerly Tony Blair’s spin doctor, took to twitter to confirm that he had indeed been expelled from the party.
Campbell revealed on Sunday in an interview with BBC’s election night that he had voted for the Pro-Remain Liberal Democrats, amid disagreements with Labour’s position on Brexit.
Commenting on the decision, a Labour spokesperson said that supporting another party was “incompatible with membership”.
In a series of tweets, Campbell confirmed the news, he tweeted:
1. Sad and disappointed to receive email expelling me from @uklabour – particularly on a day leadership finally seems to be moving to the right place on Brexit, not least thanks to tactical voting by party members, including MPs, councillors and peers who back @peoplesvote_uk .
— Alastair PEOPLE’S VOTE Campbell (@campbellclaret) 28 May 2019
2. I was not intending to publicise this at this stage, but have had calls from friends in the Party telling me it is now widely known and likely to be leaked. I have been advised by lawyers with expertise in this field I have grounds for appeal against expulsion and shall do so
— Alastair PEOPLE’S VOTE Campbell (@campbellclaret) 28 May 2019
3. I am and always will be Labour. I voted Lib Dem, without advance publicity, to try to persuade Labour to do right thing for country/party. In light of appeal, I won’t be doing media on this. But hard not to point out difference in the way anti-Semitism cases have been handled.
— Alastair PEOPLE’S VOTE Campbell (@campbellclaret) 28 May 2019
4. Plenty of precedent of members voting for other parties/causes. Some are now senior Party staff. Approach also contrasts with our era when TB was being pressed by whips to withdraw whip for JC and others for persistently voting against @UKLabour in Parliament, and he said No
— Alastair PEOPLE’S VOTE Campbell (@campbellclaret) 28 May 2019
Alistair Campbell was famously former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair’s chief press secretary.
He is also credited with having coined the term ‘New Labour’, a term which came to define the revitalisation of the party under Tony Blair’s leadership.