Why Labour dumped me as MP for Swansea West

Geraint Davies

After revealing in Nation.Cymru how I was unjustly prevented from being re-elected as Swansea West MP and how Labour parachuted in Torsten Bell from London, I now cast light on why I was targeted.

Possible reasons range from local rivalries and disobeying Keir Starmer’s orders to speaking out against killings in Gaza.

I had done nothing wrong, and none of the untrue anonymous hearsay in the media – which was the basis for my suspension – ever materialised as complaints.

I was made to wait 23 weeks without any complaints. When complaints were made, they were “to support other women” who had not made any complaints. None were reported to Parliament.

The claims did not involve criminal conduct but were an interpretation of events for consideration by an independent panel. However, I was made to wait a year, until the 2024 election, without a hearing to explain any potential misunderstanding and to clear my name.

My unresolved suspension meant Torsten Bell, who had been tipped for the Cardiff West seat (vacated by Kevin Brennan, who was given a peerage), could be parachuted into Swansea West.

This allowed the Labour Party official, Alex Barros-Curtis, who was administering my case, to be parachuted into Cardiff West. Both Mr Bell and Mr Curtis continue to live in London despite now representing Welsh seats.

I had been suspended the week before Welsh Labour was due to confirm me as its Swansea West candidate. I was previously expecting to fight and win the candidacy against Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris. I smelt a rat. Carolyn Harris was Welsh Labour’s Deputy Leader and formerly Keir Starmer’s parliamentary private secretary and therefore Labour’s natural preference.

In the other constituency she could fight for (Swansea East and Neath), her potential rival, Christina Rees MP, had already been suspended. Carolyn was given that seat uncontested before Christina’s suspension was lifted.

Torsten Bell was parachuted into Swansea West while I was suspended. This was despite Welsh Labour’s guidance suggesting Beth Winter should have first claim on my seat as a sitting Welsh MP without a seat following boundary changes.

Like Christina and Beth, my deselection may have been related to my refusal to obey Keir Starmer’s orders to vote for Tory policies.

Starmer had posed as the natural successor to Jeremy Corbyn to become elected as Labour’s leader, then U-turned on his pledges. He then told Labour MPs to vote for Conservative bills which gave legal immunity to undercover agents, protected perpetrators of war crimes and limited the rights of abused soldiers to bring cases against the Ministry of Defence. I spoke, wrote and voted against all these Tory measures.

Starmer also ordered Labour MPs to support the Conservatives’ hard Brexit deal. I again disobeyed Sir Keir, who claimed support was necessary to avoid a “no deal” Brexit. I explained at the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), first, that a ‘no deal’ would require 280 Tories to oppose their own deal if all Labour MPs abstained.

Secondly, Starmer was breaking the rules he’d previously used to vote down Theresa May’s softer Brexit deals. Rachel Reeves presented Starmer’s case at the PLP but conveniently U-turned on Brexit after Burnham deposed him.

Political manoeuvres in Wales and opposing Starmer’s pro-Tory orders may have been sufficient but not necessary for my being timed out as the Swansea West candidate. It appeared that my fate may have already been sealed as it was reported that the drive to tackle antisemitism was used by the Labour Party as a pretext to suspend left-wing and pro-Gaza members.

Peace rally

I had spoken at a Swansea peace rally against deaths in Gaza after more than 70 children had been killed in the Israel-Palestine conflict and in favour of an independent Palestine. This led to the Jewish Chronicle publishing calls from Euan Philipps, the non-Jewish chair of Labour Against Antisemitism, for Keir Starmer to take action against me.

The pretext was that a person had grabbed the microphone after I had spoken and chanted something antisemitic in Arabic. I didn’t understand him. I don’t speak Arabic and have always condemned antisemitism.

I was summoned by the Labour whips to explain myself. I later discovered from The Labour Files documentary that Philipps had made multiple complaints of antisemitism under the pseudonym of David Gordstein. It also reported that the Labour Party gave priority to referrals from the Jewish Chronicle in which I was chastised.

Alex Barros-Curtis had been a director of a company promoting Starmer’s leadership. He was then appointed Labour’s director of legal affairs and charged with tackling antisemitism.

A leaked Labour Party report revealed Philipps and others as complainants who worked for the Labour Party. They sued the Labour Party for the revelation, and Alex Barros-Curtis in turn sued members of Corbyn’s staff, accusing them of leaking the party report that had outed Philipps et al.

Their privacy lawsuit against Labour was dropped, but Labour only dropped its lawsuit against Corbyn’s team having lost an estimated £2.4 million in legal costs and after Alex Barros-Curtis was given the candidacy for Cardiff West.

Factionalism

The Labour peer John Hendy KC said: “The party should have congratulated those who wrote the ‘Leaked Report’ documenting the misdeeds, racism and factionalism of Party staff…..It’s somewhat surprising that the legal director [Alex Barros-Curtis] who led the litigation for the party has now been rewarded with selection as an MP. The litigation has cost the Party millions.”

In his role, Alex Barros-Curtis oversaw Jeremy Corbyn’s suspension and my own, as well as other suspensions, including that of Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP, who was also timed out of candidacy and joined the Green Party after his investigation was dropped.

In hindsight, I am conscious not only that my suspension followed the Swansea peace rally, my disobeying Starmer and a prospective contest with Carolyn Harris, but also that during my suspension I repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza in three public letters to the Prime Minister, pointing out that Netanyahu’s unfolding genocide was fuelling antisemitism.

I successfully campaigned for the return of a Swansea NHS doctor who was trapped in Gaza with his family and was then forced to return to Gaza from Egypt. Later, in telling the story of Dr Sabra’s escape, I called for a free vote for MPs on the proscription as terrorists of Palestine Action.

Timed out

Looking back, I now realise there may be multiple reasons I fell foul of the party and was ultimately timed out of being the Swansea West candidate. I resigned from the Labour Party six months after the general election, having lost faith in Labour’s ability to deliver fairness and justice.

I remembered meeting Rhodri Morgan when I was a boy. He was a young graduate working with my dad, David Thomas Morgan Davies, in the economics department at the Welsh Office. I also remembered how proud I was to work with him in Parliament when he was Cardiff West’s MP.

I wouldn’t wish my political death row experience on anyone and remain proud and true to the values I stood up for as Swansea West’s MP for 14 years, values embedded in Plaid Cymru, which I therefore joined ahead of this year’s Senedd election.

Geraint Davies served as MP for Swansea West between 2010 and 2024.