A contender to be Labour’s candidate in a likely by-election quit the party four years ago over Brexit.
Michael Shanks publicly announced he did not vote Labour due to their “bankrupt” approach to the EU and the anti-semitism scandal.
It comes amid claims of a "stitch up" after councillors Mo Razzaq, John Carson and trade unionist Leah Stalker were excluded from trying to be the candidate in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency.
Voters in the Westminster seat could face a by-election if sitting MP Margaret Ferrier is ‘recalled’ by voters.
Ferrier, elected on an SNP ticket, received a criminal conviction after travelling from London to Glasgow by train while infected with Covid.
Labour are strongly tipped to win the seat and are in the final stages of selecting a candidate.
Shanks, a teacher, is one of the favourites and has been shortlisted in the internal Labour selection.
But in a 2019 blog post, called ‘Time to call it a day’, he revealed he had walked away from Labour when Jeremy Corbyn was leader.
He wrote on the day of the European election: “The truth is for more than 15 years the Labour party has been a home for me. It’s where I’ve made some of my best friends, where I’ve had the privilege to stand for election three times and where I’ve shared with countless others our values of compassion, solidarity, social justice and opportunity for all.”
“It has become impossible to reconcile the state of the party is currently in with those core values. A party that has such a bankrupt approach to our membership of the EU and is complacent about the impact it will have on the poorest people across the UK does not share those values.
“A party that has been woefully inadequate in tackling antisemitism time and time and time again does not have those values at its core. And aside from all that, it’s a party that seems oblivious to how utterly unelectable it has become.”
“For a long time I’ve tried to persuade people who have left Labour that the best idea is to stay and fight for change from within. In part, I’ve been trying to convince myself. Yet today, when I hovered over my ballot paper, I realised i just couldn’t put that cross in the box for Labour, which has been virtually automatic for me in every election since I’ve been able to vote.”
“After that, leaving the party seemed the only thing left to do.”
He also tweeted a link to the piece: "I've tried to explain a little here why I just couldn't vote Labour today, and why I've therefore resigned my membership."
The blog post and the tweet are no longer available.
Shanks told the Record: “I agonised over the decision to leave the party after 15 years of membership and campaigning but I could not in good conscience defend the indefensible on anti-semitism which was so hurtful to communities across the country.
"I was happy to rejoin when Keir Starmer took clear action to root out antisemitism and I’ve been proud to campaign for Labour ever since. Speaking to voters across the constituency they are taking a fresh look at Labour and in part that’s because of the transformation we have achieved in our party under the leadership of Keir and Anas”.
Brexit is a sensitive issue for Labour as Starmer has gone to great lengths to position himself as a leader who accepts the UK is out of the EU.
The shortlisted candidates are Shanks, doctor Greg Irwin, Aberdeen councillor Deena Tissera and South Lanarkshire councillor Maureen Devlin.
Cara McDade, vice chair of Scottish Young Labour, said she was "fuming" by the shortlist: "Only Mo Razzaq, John Carson, and Leah Stalker have been out in the area enough times to be on that ballot. The choices we have now are not local candidates."
A party councillor said many members had “doubts” about Labour under Corbyn but had “stayed to fight”, adding that the shortlist was a "stitch up".
But another source said: “Most Labour members struggled in 2019 given the direction of the party at the time – many simply felt they couldn’t hang around until the party changed.
“That transformation has been rapid under Keir Starmer, stamping out antisemitism and making us electable once again.
“Michael would be a brilliant local candidate for Rutherglen.”
SNP MSP Clare Haughey said: “Michael Shanks left the Labour Party over their conspiracy of silence on the damage of Brexit. Just wait until he finds out that, under Keir Starmer, Labour is now a wholehearted backer of Brexit.
“It seems that the opportunity of a Westminster salary might be enough for him to swallow his opposition to Brexit - but the SNP will never be silenced on the damage of a Westminster Brexit that Scotland overwhelmingly rejected.
“No matter which candidate is selected, Labour is nothing but a pale imitation of the Tories. Whether it’s their silence on Brexit or their sickening shift to the right on immigration, Labour has nothing to offer the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West."
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