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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Alastair Campbell 'expelled' from Labour Party | Alastair Campbell 'expelled' from Labour Party |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Tony Blair's former spin doctor says he has been expelled from the Labour Party after voting for the Liberal Democrats in the European elections. | Tony Blair's former spin doctor says he has been expelled from the Labour Party after voting for the Liberal Democrats in the European elections. |
| Alastair Campbell, a lead campaigner for another Brexit referendum, said he was "sad and disappointed". | |
| He said he voted Lib Dem "to try to persuade Labour to do right thing", but "always will be Labour" and appeal. | |
| A Labour spokesman said supporting another party was "incompatible with party membership". | |
| Mr Campbell revealed he had voted Lib Dem during the BBC's election night broadcast on Sunday. | |
| Following his expulsion, in a series of tweets, Mr Campbell said there was "plenty of precedent of members voting for other parties/causes" and that some were now senior staff. | |
| He claimed it also "contrasts with our era" when Mr Blair was "pressed" to withdraw the Labour whip from Jeremy Corbyn for voting against the party - but the then PM said no. | |
| He also added that it was "hard not to point out difference in the way anti-Semitism cases have been handled" on the day the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched an investigation into allegation in the party. | |
| Mr Campbell was a political journalist before coming to prominence in Whitehall as a key member of the Labour PM's staff in 1994. | |
| He served as Mr Blair's chief press secretary until 2000 and was a controversial figure, heavily involved in policy, including over the Iraq War. | |
| Since leaving government, he has opened up about his struggles with depression and alcoholism, and works with a number of charities. | |
| He also campaigns for the People's Vote and is the editor of The New European magazine. |