Starmer's ruthless streak is plain to see over Elphicke

An intriguing question was on the minds of some Labour MPS after Keir Starmer welcomed the right-wing Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke into their party with open arms: would she have survived the vetting process to become a Labour parliamentary candidate?

- ANDREW GRICE

The Labour high command has imposed such iron discipline on selections that only a handful of left-wingers have been chosen. After a recent weekend "training session" for candidates emphasised the need for message discipline, one of those present told me: “There was no need for it. You couldn't imagine a more loyal bunch."

Certainly, Elphicke's previous remarks about her former husband Charlie's conviction for sexually assaulting two women might have been probed more fully if, in a different world, she had applied to be a Labour candidate. (She apologised only after a backlash from Labour MPs.)

Her past attacks on Labour would also have been closely examined. In the event, it didn't arise and Elphicke is standing down as MP for Dover at the general election. As that looms, loyalty to Starmer within his party is at its high-water mark. Yet the hostile reaction from Labour MPs horrified by his welcome for Elphicke showed the party still has a beating heart, and is true to its traditional values.

For some female Labour MPs, Starmer's move was another example of what they call the "boys' club" in the leader of the opposition's office - even though his chief of staff Sue Gray was in the very tight circle who knew Elphicke was about to jump ship. Alan Campbell, Labour's chief whip, who knows the party's pulse without having to measure it, warned Starmer there would be unease but the Labour leader pressed on.