Love’s Labour’s Lost

October 17, 2025HubMP2012

Labour Hub contributor and former Labour parliamentary candidate Julian Vaughan explains why he is leaving the Party.

It is with great sadness that I have made the decision to leave the Labour Party. As a General Election candidate in both 2017 and 2019, the Labour Party has been a significant part of my life over the last decade, and I have had the opportunity to meet many incredible people, both within and outside the Party.

However, my conscience can no longer allow me to stay within a Labour Party that has drifted so far from its core values. I am no ideologue. Those who know me within the trade union and labour movement will know that I am pragmatic and willing to work across political divides, whatever shade of red, or indeed even blue. The current Labour Party struggles to do either. A confident political Party would tolerate dissent – it makes for better policy. It is not Labour ‘rebels’ who are opening the door to Reform, it is Labour’s timidity, lack of any discernible direction or moral compass.

I will admit to wrestling for many months with the well worn argument that it is better to be inside the tent pissing out, and that regret may follow a fleeting sense of satisfaction, but too many straws have broken too many backs.

I do not think for one moment that the Labour Party will shed any tears over my departure. When, after being a candidate in two General Elections, I was offered the sixth safest Tory seat in the UK (NE Cambridgeshire), to which I said thanks, but no thanks, you get a fair idea of how little you are regarded by the Party machine. Further, when you do not even get a response to an application to be the candidate for North Durham, (subsequently represented by former NEC member Luke Akehurst), I can clearly see that I am flogging a dead horse.

I should point out that despite the above, I was out on the doorstep continually in the run-up to the General Election of 2024, putting any ego and disappointment aside to help get rid of the woeful Conservative government. As a committed trade unionist, I fully understand the importance of collective responsibility and have always sought to prioritise the cause over personal gain. However, I know the patience of many would have been exhausted long before mine was.

As the great-great-grandson of a Tory MP (Sir Harry Seymour Foster, MP for Portsmouth Central and then twice for Lowestoft), I had hoped to even up the score and be the first train driver into Parliament for over 50 years. While the knowledge that this was not going to happen was a blow which hit me hard, if I am honest, it is certainly not the reason for my decision to leave.

After the chaos of the Tories, Labour promised competent governance. Instead, despite some bright spots – nothing is ever all good or all bad – the current administration has overwhelmingly been a year of policy missteps, U-turns, political drift to the right and some truly dire communications.

However, rather than have the backs of ordinary people, Labour prefers to champion big business and court the wealthy. We need a government that has the back of Joe Public and particularly the most vulnerable in our society. As a Labour supporter all my life, who has dedicated a fair bit of time standing up for Labour and Labour values, it is gut-wrenching that Labour’s first instinct is to punch down on disabled people.

Labour now echoes the rhetoric of previous Tory governments, which talked about “tough choices having to be made”. Why is it always the most vulnerable who have to face the consequences of these political decisions – never the elite?

The UK needed far more than just a change in the management team. I have written previously about the need for the Labour Party to place empathy, compassion and indeed love at the heart of its offering to the country. Labour must, of course, be pro-business, but with a caveat: it must be pro-ethical business. Grenfell showed us what happens when a naked pursuit of profit is put ahead of people.

The lack of a genuine drive to create a fairer, more equal society by politicians from both sides of the political spectrum has created genuine grievances within our communities, particularly (but not limited to) working-class post-industrial areas. The vacuum left by this failure has been seized by politicians such as Reform UK – but they are definitely not the answer the UK needs.

As Labour tacks to the right, it doesn’t weaken Reform, it empowers it. We need courage, not appeasement, or a disastrous election defeat awaits – bad for Labour, but more importantly, a tragedy for the UK and a grave threat to our democracy.

Rather than champion the remarkable contribution made by immigrants, Labour has chosen to attempt to outflank the hard right by being seen to be tough on asylum seekers – always punching down, never up. It is not the people arriving in small boats who have created the fundamental problems of inequality and broken public services we face in the UK. Regrettably, Labour has relinquished the initiative and let Reform dictate the political narrative. You cannot appease fascism.

Trust in politics and politicians is at a very low ebb. A progressive Labour Party had the chance to restore trust in politics. Instead, it chose to defend corporate freebies with the premise that ‘all MPs do it’ and that it was ‘within the rules’, completely missing the point that this alienates the public and strengthens the view that all politicians are the same.

The introduction of a ‘Hillsborough Law’ is of course very welcome and a fitting tribute to the remarkable dignity and tenacity of the families of the bereaved. However, by definition, the law will only be enacted if there has been yet another failure of the state. To avoid these repeated failures, we need to fix the system, not just tinker around the edges. Under this government, there is no sign that this will happen.

However, the instinct of this Labour government is to view regulations as a ‘burden to business’ rather than the vital checks and balances preventing profit being prioritised over people. It is this culture that led to Grenfell, and eight years on, the lack of any justice emboldens a corporate elite, confident that they will never be held to account for their actions. This corporate elite is welcomed with open arms through the shadowy world of lobbying, which Labour have done nothing to eradicate and indeed much to promote.

Rather than seizing the initiative, this Labour government is constantly buffeted by events, rudderless, with an absence of any clear understanding or honesty about what it stands for and who it represents. As Mhairi Black set out in her exceptional maiden speech (whatever your politics), quoting Tony Benn, there are signposts and weathercocks. Starmer and the Labour administration are certainly the latter.

We need politicians who understand the lives of ordinary working people, MPs who have worn a hi-viz as part of their job, not just for a photo opportunity. If we continue to draw the majority of our MPs from the corporate world, it is little wonder that there is a ready acceptance of the narratives peddled by corporate lobbyists and policies that favour big business over ordinary people. This corporate capture is deep-seated within our politics and a clear and present danger to our democracy.

There comes a point in any government where, no matter what good or even brilliant things they do, and Labour has done some good things, people have stopped listening. It has come to this government very early, not helped by an electorate radicalised by apathy, distrust in the political system, and the crystal-clear messaging of the hard right.

The move to bring the railways back into public ownership should be welcomed, but instead it is another example of Labour’s timidity. The trains will continue to be owned by rolling stock companies (ROSCOs) that rake in huge profits through the leasing of their trains. UK rail fares are some of the most expensive in Europe, but Labour have studiously avoided any commitment to cut fares.

If public ownership doesn’t bring long-suffering passengers a more affordable, more reliable, and accessible railway, the public will rightly wonder what exactly was the point? In terms of creating a more accessible rail network, Labour have yet to commit to even the paltry fifty stations promised ‘Access for All’ funding by the Tory government in May 2024, despite stating they have “an unwavering commitment to (rail) accessibility”. Actions speak louder than words.

It is a grim irony that proportional representation, previously criticised as enabling the extreme right to gain political leverage, may now be the only means to stop it in the UK. However, any much needed change to how we vote in the UK will rightly be seen as political opportunism rather than a principled desire for a fairer voting system.

Starmer, whom I voted for as leader, needs better advice, better advisors and a compelling narrative, not meaningless, mind-numbing soundbites about growth and delivery. I believe that at his core, he is a good man, but sadly I no longer believe what he says – and neither does much of the public.

So very sadly, it has come to a point where I have come to be ashamed rather than proud of being connected with the Labour Party. However, I must point out that there are dedicated people with huge integrity who remain within it, with whom I will always be willing to work to improve our communities.

So what does the future hold? My passion for social justice remains undimmed and I will continue to do all I can to hold power to account and champion the most vulnerable in our society. I had hoped that I could continue my efforts from within the Labour Party as a ‘critical friend’, but I can no longer do so with a clear conscience.

Julian Vaughan was Labour Parliamentary candidate for NE Bedfordshire in 2017 and 2019. and a Labour NEC candidate in 2020. He blogs here, where this post originally appeared. Twitter: @julian_vaughan_ https://twitter.com/julian_vaughan_

Image: Handwritten Letter of Resignation. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/193749286@N04/51391275986/. Author: CIPHR Connect, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.