Hard-left Momentum activists kick out councillor for being 'too working class'

Kieran Harpham’s ward in Sheffield has been taken over by hard-Left activists
Many are Momentum members and others are students or Trotskyite academics
Labour insiders say the 27-year-old was seen as ‘too authentically working class’
Mr Harpham’s father, Harry, won David Blunkett’s former Sheffield seat for Labour in 2015 but died from cancer nine months later

Published: 01:53 GMT, 2 December 2017 | Updated: 11:50 GMT, 2 December 2017

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The son of a miner and late Labour MP has been deselected as a councillor because he is ‘too working class’.

Kieran Harpham’s electoral ward in Sheffield has been taken over by hard-Left activists who have kicked him out.

Many are members of Momentum while others are students, Trotskyite academics from the city’s universities or middle-class professionals.

Labour insiders say the 27-year-old was seen as ‘too authentically working class’ and ‘not Left-wing enough’.

Mr Harpham’s father, Harry, won David Blunkett’s former Sheffield seat for Labour in 2015 but died from cancer nine months later.

Kieran Harpham’s electoral ward in Sheffield has been taken over by hard-Left activists who have kicked him out

Jeremy Corbyn, who attended the funeral, described the 61-year-old as a ‘decent man dedicated to justice for working people’.

Last week his son found himself facing reselection for the Broomhill ward against five other candidates. Members voted to replace him with Janet Ridler, a 58-year-old historian who only recently joined the party and lives in Sheffield’s wealthiest suburb, Dore.

When approached for comment, Lord Blunkett said: ‘Kieran’s dad, who was a former miner and never a Blairite, was my agent and successor as MP for Brightside and Hillsborough.

‘I’m extremely distressed that his son Kieran should have experienced the backlash of the Momentum drive for deselections – not least as Jeremy Corbyn attended his dad’s funeral. I hope people will examine their consciences.’

Sheffield Labour moderates say the situation is even more ‘mad’ because Harry Harpham’s parliamentary seat was taken by his wife Gill Furniss, who is Kieran’s stepmother.

A former council member, who would not be named, said: ‘Kieran’s deselection is absolutely bonkers. What kind of situation is it when a shadow minister’s stepson isn’t Left-wing enough?’

A veteran Sheffield councillor and Corbyn supporter said: ‘Broomhill is in its own world.

'It’s full of arty-farty people who think they know better than anyone else. Kieran’s problem is that he’s too authentically working class and not enough of a Left-wing intellectual for them.’

A former senior Labour councillor added: ‘Kieran is a really good guy, really dedicated and hard-working, who did well to win in a marginal ward in 2016.

Jeremy Corbyn is pictured with Gill Furniss, whose husband Harry Harpham died from cancer

‘Broomhill has always been a difficult seat and it does lend itself to a kind of intellectual snobbery.

'It’s an area where people are interested in theoretical views of socialism rather than practicalities and in many ways a northern replica of what you get in Islington.

‘Being a Labour member there is no longer about working-class people and who represents them.’

Mr Harpham’s deselection follows aggressive purges of Labour moderates in London, including ten Haringey councillors who are understood to have resigned or been deselected.

In Leeds, the Labour council leader Judith Blake is understood to be facing a battle against Left-wing candidates after she was not automatically reselected.

Mr Harpham, who has overcome two kidney transplants and a brain tumour, said: ‘The problem is the influence of the people who have become members over the last two years.

'Before the rise of Corbyn and Momentum, Labour members were happy to disagree but would get along with one another. I don’t think it’s constructive for getting work done within the party.’

He added: ‘I have to say that I’m unhappy to have been deselected but that’s life and I’ll try to stand again elsewhere.’

Mr Harpham, who will keep his seat until elections in May, has been labelled a Blairite for signing a letter on a vote of no confidence against Mr Corbyn. His father was such a staunch socialist that when Margaret Thatcher died he tweeted a picture of him toasting her death with a pint of beer.

He was a member of the National Union of Mineworkers and took part in the 1984-5 strike. He later became deputy leader of Sheffield City Council.