Corbyn ally departs from job as Labour's director of governance and legal

Thomas Gardiner, who was appointed to his post two years ago by the former leader was replaced on Monday,

A controversial figure who led the unit deciding on antisemitism cases and other disciplinaries has quit.

Thomas Gardiner, who was appointed to his post two years ago by the former leader, was replaced on Monday. It is understood Alex Barros-Curtis will take over temporarily.

This comes amid claims of a ‘civil war’ within the party between Keir Starmer’s supporters, and those still loyal to Jeremy Corbyn’s views. One of his first moves upon becoming leader was to appoint David Evans as General Secretary of the party, to replace Jennie Formby.

Gardiner came in for criticism in 2019 after being involved in the process of not suspending an activist accused of antisemitism.

Kayla Bibby shared an image of a creature with a star of David covering the statue of liberty, but was not initially suspended.

The post shared by Labour activist Kayla Bibby’s Facebook account

In April 2019, leaked internal Labour documents revealed the party failed to take any disciplinary action against hundreds of members accused of antisemitism. The files revealed that Gardiner reportedly frustrated efforts by a member of his staff to fast-track the investigation of a member who condemned two Jewish MPs for being “shit-stirring c** buckets” in the pay of Israel”.

At the time, a Labour source defended Gardiner, claiming the emails showed him “arguing for an antisemitism complaint to be recorded as antisemitism” and that “he was outlining and supporting this process.”