Bakers’ Union boss suspended from Labour Party

Ronnie Draper 'disgusted and in shock' after receiving letter saying he could not vote in forthcoming leadership election

Ronnie Draper and Jeremy Corbyn in 2015 (Ronnie Draper/Twitter)

The General Secretary of the Bakers’ Union has been suspended by the Labour Party.

Ronnie Draper said he was “disgusted and in shock” after receiving a letter saying he could not vote in the forthcoming leadership election and said it was over comments made on social media.

Jeremy Corbyn specifically praised the Bakers’ Union after his shock victory in last year’s Labour leadership election. Shortly after, the more moderate trade union Community lost an election to seat on the party’s ruling NEC to Pauline McCarthy, a representative of the Bakers’ Union.

That win was a significant boost to Mr Corbyn, not least when the National Executive Committee ruled in his favour last month, and decided he should automatically be on the leadership ballot and not have to seek nominations.

The party is understood to be working through a backlog of disciplinary complaints, with the vetting performed by a panel of NEC members.

Other members, who are not Corbyn supporters, have been suspended too. Jonny Chambers who worked as an advisor to MP Stella Creasy, was told he had been expelled on Thursday morning.

He had left the party in March over Mr Corbyn’s leadership before applying to rejoin in June, and was thrown out again before his cancellation had even been processed.

He said: "Today I’ve been expelled from the Labour Party. A wonderful demonstration of Labour’s values: welcoming anti-Semites with open arms and kicks out long standing hard-working activists who have given many years of frustrated but dedicated service to a party I believed in, for the country love.

“Labour claim that evidence shows I have demonstrated support for the Conservatives – something I have never done. I posted an article about why Labour people should have a stake and an interest in a race that was choosing our next Prime Minister – and I quite clearly said that whilst Theresa should be the next Prime Minister, I wanted a Labour leader than can beat her and the Conservatives."