“I am devastated that my closest political sister in this house has been hounded out of my party, but I have a message for everybody. I will not be silenced. I am going nowhere, and they will have to take my membership card away from me, because this is too important – not for me, not for you, but for the people we represent outside.”
Stoke-on-Trent North MP Ruth Smeeth’s impassioned speech in the House of Commons made it abundantly clear that she has no intention of leaving the Labour Party.
But following the formation of the new Independent Group of ex-Labour and Conservative MPs, there has been plenty of talk of other discontented politicians, from both main parties, joining their ranks.
Could this be the start of the long-awaited realignment of British politics, as MPs flock to a new centrist party?
Ms Smeeth has certainly had her issues with Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of Labour, and like her ‘political sister’ Luciana Berger – one of the founding members of the IG – she has been the target of antisemitic abuse from within her own party.
Mr Corbyn’s failure to properly deal with the antisemitism problem was one of the reasons the Independents gave for leaving Labour.
But Ms Smeeth, who was speaking during a Commons debate on antisemitism, vowed to continue tackling the problem from within the party.
She said: “As much as I would happily share the ongoing abuse that has happened over the past 12 months, I say with respect to everybody in the chamber that it simply is not about us.
“It is about the chilling effect that this is having on people outside. It is about the young women who should be joining the Labour Party who no longer have a political home. It is about those young women and young men who have decided that their identity stops them getting politically involved.
“It is for them that we continue this fight. It is for them that I stay on my benches, inside my party. It is for them that I will fight every single day to ensure that antisemitism is removed from my party.”
But there are other reasons why Ms Smeeth would be unlikely to join the IG.
Apart from their opposition to Mr Corbyn and antisemitism, the other thing that unites the ex-Labour MPs is their opposition to Brexit and support for a second referendum.
By contrast, Ms Smeeth – and her Stoke-on-Trent Central neighbour Gareth Snell – have spoken of wanting to deliver a Brexit that works for the Potteries. While both previously opposed leaving the EU, they now say they will support Brexit due to the strong support it has in Stoke-on-Trent. Neither MP voted for an amendment which could have delayed Brexit beyond March 29.
Newcastle’s Labour MP Paul Farrelly, on the other hand, has made no secret of his continuing opposition to Brexit, despite the fact that he also represents a pro-Leave area.
It is also unlikely that any of the area’s Conservative MPs will be following their former colleagues Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston to the Independent Group.
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Moorlands MP Karen Bradley remains one of Theresa May’s closest allies within the Cabinet, while Stoke-on-Trent South’s Jack Brereton, like his Labour counterparts in the city, is now a pro-Brexit convert.
But there are a number of MPs – such as Conservative Justine Greening and Labour’s Ian Austin – who could be close to leaving. The threat of deselection by their local parties will be a factor for some.
Mr Corbyn and others have called on the ex-Labour MPs to resign and fight for their seats in by-elections, but so far none of the IG has suggested they will do this.
Dr Philip Catney, who teaches politics at Keele University, believes it is too early to say whether the defections signal a permanent realignment of British politics.
He said: “It’s still just a faction at the moment, it’s not a party, and the MPs haven’t ruled out returning to their parties in the future. They haven’t burnt their bridges yet.
“Also, we know what they are against, and their opposition to the current leaders of the Labour and Conservative parties, but they haven’t really heard any positive policies from them. That might be a problem. When you see someone like Anna Soubry who was in favour of the austerity measures imposed by the Coalition, it’s not clear how someone like Chuka Umunna could be comfortable with that.
“In contrast, the SDP, who were from the right wing of the Labour Party, did have a lot in common with the Liberals."
Dr Catney says local MPs such as Ms Smeeth and Conservative Mr Brereton would be unlikely to leave their parties, given that they would struggle to keep their seats as independents.
He added: “Lots of MPs would like to think they’re there on their own merits, but most people vote for parties not individuals. And our voting system punishes small parties.
“The Lib Dems will want the independents to join with them, either as an alliance or a merger. This could be one way the Lib Dems become relevant again.
“It’s hard to say how things will develop, and it could come down to what happens on March 29. But you can see that the broad churches of the two main parties are starting to crumble as the ground shifts beneath them.”
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