Labor members have united behind Keir Starmer’s leadership despite unrest among parliamentary leaders over party discipline.

Four in five Labor Party members back the Labor leader and believe he will win a majority at the next election, the latest Labor Party poll shows – despite a recent wave of MP resignations as some accuse the leadership of taking “Aggressive bullying tactics.”

Two YouGov polls commissioned by Labour-related think tanks showed growing support for the Labor leader among Labor members. According to a report by the British “Economist” magazine, in April 2023, 75% of respondents recognized Sir Keir’s leadership capabilities, and by October 2023, this number increased to 81%. guardian.

As Labour’s electoral prospects grow, so does support for his leadership. In April 2023, just months after Rishi Sunak became chancellor, 56% of MPs surveyed said they thought Labor would win a majority. By October, that proportion had grown by nearly a quarter, to 78%.

Labor’s membership has declined under Keir Starmer compared with his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn. According to official statistics, there were 552,835 members at the time of the 2020 leadership competition. By comparison, this number will drop to 434,000 in 2022, 407,328 in 2023 and 390,000 in 2024.

But the party’s membership remains large compared with most members of the New Labor era. The number of paying supporters peaked at 405,000 in 1997, but by 2007 had fallen to 176,891, the lowest level since the founding of the Labor Party.

Sir Keir won 56% of the MP vote in the April 2020 election, beating Rebecca Long-Bailey on 28% and Lisa South on 16% Lisa Nandy became leader of the Labor Party.

He is credited with turning around the party’s electoral prospects after a disastrous general election result in 2019, but has been criticized by those on the party’s left who oppose his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and his iron-fist rule. Regarding party discipline.

Twenty Lancashire councilors have terminated their membership of the Labor Party after accusing Sir Keir and national leaders of bullying, with the party hit by a wave of resignations.

The councilors each sit on Pendle Borough Council, Nelson Town Council or Briarfield Town Council and claim they are no longer represented by the National Labor Party.

They claim the party has “targeted local councilors” by “preventing them from standing in elections” and will now form its own independent group.

Last November, 11 Burnley MPs quit the party over Sir Keir’s decision not to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.

MP Mohammad Iqbal, one of the resignations, told reporters BBC North West Today: “The party across the country seems to want to control who can stand where and when. We don’t think this is right, so we have made the difficult decision to resign.”

Labor said its “focus is on winning the next election to improve the lives of those we are elected to serve”.

Labour’s national campaign coordinator Pat McFadden dismissed concerns about the resignation, saying “everyone can have their own point of view”.

Groups of parliamentarians in the northwest accused the party leadership of suppressing their freedom of expression on issues such as the Gaza conflict and blocking certain candidates from running in the election.

Mr McFadden told BBC Radio 4 Today Show: “Everyone can have an opinion and I understand why people feel so strongly about this issue.

“We saw what happened on October 7, we saw what happened in the six months since then, tens of thousands of people were killed, and throughout it all we said three things.”

The Wolverhampton South East MP outlined Labour’s three demands: the return of the hostages, a sustained ceasefire and “a better future for the Palestinian people”.

Asked about the departure of Pendle ward councilor Iqbal, Mr McFadden said: “It would be a shame if anyone decided to leave but my real focus is on the 2,000-plus Labor candidates .Local elections in a few weeks.”

Both parties have launched local election campaigns as the country prepares to go to the polls in a month’s time.

Labor has launched a splashy website highlighting what it calls the £8.2bn “cost of Tory chaos”. Half of this is due to rising mortgage rates triggered by Liz Truss’ disastrous 2022 mini-budget, as well as £2.6bn in unexpected hotel bills for asylum seekers and £2m in spending at a series of by-elections.

Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden called it “a desperate attempt to distract from the controversy over the sale of the council home by Labor deputy leader Angela Rayner”.

He added: “Labour should not be wasting time on unreliable websites and should instead be setting out their plan. But the fact they can’t because they have no plan for this country means they will leave us back to square one with increased Taxes, increased borrowing and higher unemployment.