Labour: Speculation over new leader will 'die down' says expert
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Since the Holborn and St Pancras MP took over last spring the party has seen a continued plunge in membership. It had originally been hoped Sir Keir’s election would help bolster the party following the 2019 election failure.
However, so far the new leadership has failed to stop the rot.
There have been 120,000 paying members who have quit the party, significantly hitting the party’s finances.
There were 550,000 members last April when Sir Keir was elected, but the number has now plummeted to 430,000.
Up to £500,000 in monthly income has been lost as a result of the drop in membership.
The updated figures were given to the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) when they met last week.
Sir Keir has struggled to break through during the pandemic, with the leader stuck wrestling over whether to support Boris Johnson’s plans to tackle the Covid crisis or not.
The success of the vaccine rollout has also given a boost to the Tories, to the detriment of Labour.
A YouGov poll of more than 1,000 UK adults on July 5 found 59 percent believe Sir Keir is doing a bad job, compared to just 21 percent who think he is doing well.
Worryingly for the Labour leader, an Ipsos Mori poll conducted between July 2-8 found 47 percent of 2019 Labour voters believe Sir Keir is the wrong man to lead the party into the next election.
As many as 20 percent said they were unsure of his suitability.
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Concern over the leader’s performance also grew inside the party after the loss in May’s Hartlepool by-election, a safe seat that has voted Labour for over 50 years.
At last Tuesday’s meeting, the NEC was asked to approve slashing the number of staff in response to a funding crisis that has emerged in part due to the drop in numbers.
At least 90 jobs are at risk due to a lack of money.
In December 2019, Labour employed 367 members of staff.
The drastic cuts equate to up to 25 percent being made redundant.
As well as a dwindling membership, the cancellation of last year’s annual conference, and fees defending legal action on anti-Semitism have badly hit the party’s finances.
At least £1million was lost as a result of the need to abandon the Liverpool conference last autumn due to the pandemic.
“This is not an easy decision and we recognise it will be a very difficult time for staff,” a source told Reuters last week.
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