Former MP Mike Gapes has rejoined Labour after quitting under Jeremy Corbyn to form a rival party. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was “delighted” to welcome Mr Gapes back. Mr Gapes quit the party in 2019 and unsuccessfully stood against it in Ilford South at the election that year for the Independent Group for Change, which he founded alongside breakaway MPs from Labour and the Tories. Writing in the Times, Mr Gapes said Sir Keir had tackled antisemitism in Labour and “relentlessly focused on making it once again a patriotic, serious party of mainstream Britain”. https://t.co/ymZeCamE4h — Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 7, 2023Sir Keir said: “Like many others, Mike turned away from the party in recent years because it no longer represented traditional Labour values.

Source: The Times March 07, 2023 15:55 UTC