2019 British Party Splits

Overview

The 2019 British Party Splits refers to Members of Parliament (MPs) resigning from the Labour Party and the Conservative Party, the official opposition and government in the UK Parliament.^[1] The resignations of the MPs came after they did not agree the direction the party was going in with Brexit and Labour's antisemitism controversy being a considerable factor in those resignations. The split was met with mixed opinions from politicians, journalists and other public figures. The split was the biggest to occur since 1981 when the Social Democratic Party was formed by four Labour MPs who defected from the party.

Background

On February 18th, 2019, Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey resigned from the Labour Party during a press conference held in Westminster.^[1] There, they announced that they would all be sitting as independent MPs under a group name entitled: "The Independent Group".^[1]

Developments

After having a meeting with the seven MPs, Jeremy Corbyn was warned that more Labour MPs could resign if he chose not to change its attitude towards antisemitism. It was also reported that few Conservative MPs were considering resigning and joining the "Independent Group" due to divisions in the Conservative Party over the government's handling of Brexit.

Joan Ryan became the first MP to join after the group’s formation, announcing her departure from the Labour Party on 19th February, 2019.

Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston and Heidi Allen all released a joint statement on 20th February 2019 where they announced that they would resign from the Conservative Party and join the Independent Group.

On February 22th, 2019, Labour MP Ian Austin resigned from Labour due to antisemitism but stated that he would not be joining the Independent Group.

According to reports, eight senior Labour MPs could resign but like Ian Austin, they would not be joining the Independent Group.

Theresa May was warned that if there was an ever-growing threat of a no-deal Brexit, she would face 'dozens of resignations' which would result to the government collapsing and a general election being triggered.

Reactions

Shortly after the split was announced, #LabourSplit, Labour Party and Angela Smith were all trending worldwide on Twitter. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party expressed his disappointment^[2] whilst Vince Cable, the leader of the Liberal Democrats said that his party would "work with them in some form" but that the Lib Dems would not be "subsumed" by them.^[3]

The split gave mixed opinions from politicians, journalists and other public figures. Some praised the seven MPs for standing up to what they believed in by resigning whilst some criticized them for betraying the party and their constituents. Some Labour MPs called on the seven MPs to have by-elections in their constituency, including Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who said that they had a "responsibility" to resign and fight by-elections as they had been elected as Labour MPs and should seek the approval of the electorate on their new platform. Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, said the seven breakaway MPs should call by-elections, saying, "If they regard themselves as democrats, I wonder if they are going to stand down and create by-elections," and "give their constituents the opportunity to see if they want them elected."

UNISON leader Dave Prentis said that the split was "terrible news", stating that "split parties don't win elections". His comments were endorsed by GMB leader Tim Roache.

The response from the Green Party of England and Wales was more negative. Executive Committee member Chris Jarvis said: "These people are not our friends – we should have nothing to do with them… [they are] some of the most contemptible members of the Parliamentary Labour Party."

Brexit Party MEP and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage said that the split was the start of realignment in British politics. Some Labour MPs and members complained as they mentioned that the split would be an advantage to the Conservative Party by increasing their chances at winning the next general election.

Due to the resignations of the three Conservative MPs, more prospect of another snap general election had been raised due to the majority vote of the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party being lost.

Examples

Controversies

Angela Smith Controversy

Shortly after announcing her resignation as one of the seven MPs, Angela Smith appeared on BBC's Politics Live program where she said that the Labour Party were racist and was accused of calling Ash Sarkar "funny tinged."

This sparked a considerable amount of controversy which led to Angela apologizing on Twitter after the program had finished.

BBC Microphone Controversy

During the press conference where the seven MPs announced their resignation from the party, the BBC had broadcasted a man who had been heard saying "I’m not gonna lie, but with this and Brexit we’re actually fucked. It’s going to be really divided, it’s still going to be divided, the Conservatives are going to win." The BBC later apologized after they said that it was a microphone error.

Related Memes

The Independent Group House of Commons Photo

The Independent Group House of Commons Photo refers to a photo captured of the first eleven Independent Group members sitting in their new seats alongside the Scottish National Party MPs in the House of Commons. In the photo, it includes Luciana Berger taking a selfie with the newly established "Independent Group", SNP MP David Linden smiling and waving at the camera and SNP MP Mhairi Black looking in distraught – the latter going viral with users comparing her facial reaction to convey the state that Brexit and British politics are in.

Website Crash

Shortly after announcing their new group, "the Independent Group" website crashed with many Twitter users mocking it as it came up the word "Independent" or on others, a 503 error message.

Search Interest

External References