Almost every MP in Westminster will claim that tackling the cost-of-living crisis is their number one priority. It is the cause politicians are most desperate to show constituents they are banging the drum for in Parliament. Nowhere was this more evident on the left than in the Labour Growth Group, led by the MP Chris Curtis. The 100-strong caucus was formed rapidly in the wake of Sir Keir Starmer’s election victory, with backbenchers keen to prove they were pushing an agenda of growing the economy to bring down prices. The organisation sought genuinely to champion business and hard work as routes to prosperity, rather than yet more government handouts.
But yesterday it was announced that the Labour Growth Group is itself shrinking, with its leader Curtis stepping down. Mr S can reveal that his departure, and the waning influence of the group, did not come out of nowhere. An MP involved in the group confirmed that ‘some members lacked any interest in the growth agenda’ and only signed up because ‘they saw it as the loyalist faction that might advance their careers’. After the group published a pamphlet, An Honest Day, proposing ideas for giving the economy a boost, some of its members fumed that it was not sufficiently left-wing. Sigh.
In a letter to Growth Group members, Curtis’ aide Mark McVitie said: ‘I want to acknowledge that some of you felt blindsided by the publication of An Honest Day without sight of it beforehand. That was a mistake, it sits with Chris and me, and we apologise… Chris has given a huge amount to LGG as Parliamentary Chair and is now keen to focus on other work, including advocacy on housing and on devolution and the metro mayoralties around the country. For my part, I am keen to focus my energy on taking the ideas in An Honest Day forward through new routes.’
When the PLP cannot even unite behind the country’s most popular agenda, is it any wonder a shadow leadership contest has erupted so soon?
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