Former Labour MP claims she was 'bullied out of the party' by 'millionaire' Starmer amid 'anti-sleaze' row
16 March 2025, 14:05
MP Rosie Duffield claimed she was 'single-handedly bullied' out of the Labour party by 'millionaire barrister' Sir Keir Starmer.
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Ms Duffield, 53, currently sits for Canterbury as an Independent MP.
She quit Labour last year in an 'anti-sleaze' protest after leadership were found to be accepting gifts worth thousands of pounds.
"I never thought the party that's supposed to support women like me, who was a Unison union member, was a teaching assistant, was a single mum on benefits, I never thought I'd be fighting barristers who run our party now," Duffield told a women's festival in Alloa, Scotland.
"I'm looking at a man who was a millionaire barrister who almost single-handedly bullied me out of the Labour Party, a working woman."
Her letter of resignation condemned 'the sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice' of the current Labour government.
"We're tough but sometimes you go home and you think, these are my values and my beliefs; and it is hurtful because your political party is kind of your family," she said.
"Those are your values and things you've grown up to deeply believe. When you're betrayed by that movement, when they ignore you and they don't care whether you're there or not, it hurts."
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Duffield was investigated over 'transphobia' claims.
She mentioned she had cancelled her Unison membership because the union said trans women were women and trans men were men.
She was cleared of the claims in January 2024.
Andrew Marr reacts to Keir Starmer’s justification for accepting the equivalent of £200,000
In October, Sir Keir Starmer paid back several thousand pounds of gifts he had received since becoming Prime Minister.
The PM paid back six Taylor Swift tickets, four tickets to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a designer for his wife.
It came after a row over donations made to Starmer and other top Labour politicians over donations they received.
The donations - although Labour says all were declared within the rules- have sparked backlash, particularly against a backdrop of cuts to the winter fuel payment announced last Autumn.
