On February 8th, the MP for Gorton and Denton Andrew Gwynne was fired from his post in the Department for Health and suspended from the Labour Party. Following on from this, Burnley MP Oliver Ryan and 11 Stockport and Tameside councillors were also suspended. These came in the wake of revelations pertaining to a WhatsApp group chat, nominally for campaigning, but containing deeply offensive messages about members of the public and of other Labour MPs including now Deputy PM Angela Rayner.
At the heart of this issue is, quite simply, utter disrespect by figures in elected positions of authority towards the people they are meant to represent. What was said was pretty disgusting, with the Mail on Sunday reporting Gwynne joked that a constituent of his being “mown down” and made anti-Semitic comments.
What is evident within the group chat, inspiringly named “Trigger Me Timbers”, is a deep-seated culture of contempt amongst political activists, MPs, and Labour Party councillors towards members of the public. Not only does it seem that an adversarial and bitter attitude seemed deeply ingrained, but also that individuals seemed to take enjoyment and pride from displaying their disdain.
This is not new in politics. Distaste and hostility towards constituents has always been present within Parliament, with the recent case of Labour MP Mike Amesbury pleading guilty to assaulting a member of the public who he claims he felt threatened by. More broadly, the ‘Westminster bubble’ has long been accused of both disinterest and dislike towards the general public.
It is important to note that we cannot expect MPs and councillors to get on with all of those they represent. Disagreement is the lifeblood of politics and in a first-past-the-post system it is inevitable that representatives will have differing views to some of their constituents. It is also important to note that hostility goes both ways — MPs have long faced the serious threat of violence and abuse from members of the public.
However, the behaviour of those involved in the recent scandal goes well beyond the pale of acceptability. Furthermore, it seems to demonstrate a contradiction between the words of party leadership, and the culture within the Labour Party and politics as a whole. Both in office, and prior to his election win, Sir Keir Starmer has emphasised his desire to clean up politics and connect his party with everyday voters.
By displaying an ingrained culture of degrading attitudes, even amongst a small group, towards the public, the Labour Party appears to be not only deeply out-of-touch with, but actively hostile to, the majority of the population. Further, the group chat invokes memories of the previous Conservative government’s handling of the pandemic, where insensitive and unprofessional WhatsApp messages struck a negative chord with the public. With the Government struggling in the polls, they cannot risk backlash.
To be fair, Labour Party leadership has acted swiftly to deal with the current scandal— MPs and councillors were suspended soon after the messages were revealed. This was the right call, but the risk is that this is not a confined incident. The Labour leadership must commit to reforming the culture of both the party and politics in general, preventing scandals before they happen.
