Pro-Corbyn Islington councillor quits Labour in ‘Starmer protest’
EXCLUSIVE: Cllr Matt Nathan now sits as an independent, with allies of Corbyn hoping his move sparks a further wave of resignations in protest at Keir Starmer's decision not to restore whip to the former leader
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
An Islington councillor has resigned from the Labour Party to sit as an independent – hoping to spark a wave of further resignations in support of former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Councillor Matt Nathan is understood to have offered his resignation to local Labour officials in response to Keir Starmer’s confirmation last month that Corbyn will not stand for the party at the next general election.
Allies of Corbyn, who continues to represent Islington North as an independent MP, claim up to 10 local councillors in the borough could now follow in Cllr Nathan’s footsteps and leave Labour.
But a Labour source insisted:”The party has changed irrevocably under Keir Starmer and is unrecognisable from where we were in 2019. We will never go back to where we were before. Anyone who doesn’t like it is free to leave.”
Last month a press conference held after the EHRC confirmed Labour was no longer in special measures over antisemitism Starmer had confirmed:“Let me be very clear about that; Jeremy Corbyn will not stand for Labour at the next general election.”
To those opposing the changes he had made to the party, Starmer added:”“If you don’t like that, if you don’t like the changes we have made, I say the door is open and you can leave.”
Jewish News understands than several other councillors have vowed to copy Nathan’s actions, with the hope of lining up behind Corbyn if he chooses to fight the next general election in Islington North.
Cllr Nathan – who has long been one of Corbyn’s most staunch supporters in the borough – decided not to make any public announcement about his decision to quit Labour.
He had also been the local representative of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour councillors, and described himself on one Twitter bio as “Yorkshireman ad Socialist.”
Nathan had previously told a meeting of the hard-left Don’t Leave Organise group that Corbyn’s suspension was “a calculated provocation to get you to leave the party of your own accord”.
But concerns have also been raised about Nathan’s social media conduct in the past.
In tweets seen by the Jewish News he appeared to call for the “bloody end” of the ruling class.
He also wrote that during pandemic it was “not unlabour to have spent lockdown crafting your own guillotine.”
Nathan also once referred to former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson as being part as a “rancid cabal” and wrote of wanting “their f**king heads on sticks.”
Now, on the official Islington Borough Council website his newfound status as an independent councillor is confirmed.
A Jewish Labour source insisted: “No-one is going to lose sleep over one fewer far-left acolyte who thinks what happens to Corbyn is more important than supporting a Labour council or helping elect Keir Starmer as prime minister.
“Glad he’s taken Keir’s advice and shown himself the door.”
Sources close to Corbyn have also told Jewish News that the former leader is “torn” between announcing he intends to fight the next general election against the Labour candidate, or accepting the advice from other colleagues to bring an up to his near 40 year-long parliamentary career.
It is understood that Corbyn’s wife Laura Alvarez is amongst those urging the veteran campaigner to stand again at the next election.
A grouping of pro-Corbyn supporters are still active within Islington Labour politics, are committed to retaining influence over the direction of the local party.
They are also convinced that the resignations of Labour councillors in protest at the ex-leader’s treatment, can spark wider shows of support for Corbyn in the party, elsewhere in the country.
But other Labour sources say the influence of the pro-Corbyn camp in Islington is overstated.
When the entire membership of the local party have been asked to vote on issues such as in leadership contests, they have backed Keir Starmer, and before that David Miliband.
“The Corbyn backers might seem to have the loudest voices in Islington,” said one senior Labour source.
“But in truth the Islington local parties have members holding all sorts of political views, from moderate to radical. It’s easy to be deceived.”
Labour holds a commanding majority on Islington Council, with 48 of the 51 seats under their control following elections last May.
Cllr Nathan, first elected in 2018, had spoken out after Corbyn had the whip removed in response to his statement following the publication of the EHRC report into antisemitism.
In December 2020, defending Corbyn, he said:”“If you have left the Labour Party or are thinking of leaving the Labour Party for goodness sake stay, stay and fight. Don’t leave, organise.”
Jewish News attempted to contact Cllr Nathan for comment.
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