Jeremy Corbyn’s office has indicated it could be open to talks about a cross-party electoral alliance to counter the Conservatives, according to Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP who is promoting the idea.
Although Corbyn himself has rejected the notion of Labour taking part in the so-called progressive alliance, which the Greens hope could also include the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru, Lucas argues it is unlikely he would say anything else amid a leadership campaign.
In June, the leader of the Green party, Natalie Bennett, wrote to Corbyn, the Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron, and Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru to suggest an anti-Brexit alliance in any upcoming general election.
Lucas, who is standing to replace Bennett as leader on a joint ticket with Jonathan Bartley, has since co-edited a book with the Labour MP Lisa Nandy and others about cross-party cooperation on issues including electoral reform.
Corbyn’s office had “not shut the door” on the idea of talks after the Labour leadership election, Lucas told the Guardian. “My office got a message from his office saying that they were interested in meeting to discuss it,” she said. “That’s as far as we’ve gone because, of course, we’ve had an election campaign.”
Debating with his leadership challenger, Owen Smith, in Glasgow on Thursday night, Corbyn said he did not support a progressive alliance, arguing that Labour was “different from any other party” and growing very quickly on its own.
But Lucas said she had seen wider backing within Labour over issues including a change to the voting system, with senior Labour figures including John McDonnell and Chuka Umunna now supporting proportional representation.
“I’m hopeful because more and more people in the Labour party are recognising that, no matter who their leader is, they’re very unlikely to form an outright majority government in the next election, with what’s happening with the constituency boundary changes,” Lucas said. “Once you’ve got a Labour party in whose interests electoral reform is, then obviously that’s a gamechanger.
“I’m imagining people in Labour are looking at Scotland, where they got about 25% of the vote in the general election and just one seat. That isn’t fair for them.”
Lucas said it remained to be seen what any progressive alliance might seek beyond a push for voting change, and stressed any pacts must be instigated at a local level. “We’re not talking about a blueprint and we’re certainly not talking about something imposed from the centre to the local areas,” she added.
Ideas could range from agreements to limit spending in certain seats to having a local primary to decide on a single candidate, Lucas said. “That would be the most radical idea: where one candidate is chosen to represent the progressive parties against the Tories or Ukip. It could be all of those things or none of those things.”
A more immediate concern for Corbyn are complaints that Labour is conducting a clearout of his supporters before the leadership election.
Ronnie Draper, the general secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers union, said on Friday he might take legal action over his suspension from the party, adding he had still not been told precisely why the action had been taken.
Corbyn expressed his concern about the suspension during a visit to Edinburgh on Friday. Asked whether he agreed with his shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, that a “rigged purge” was taking place, Corbyn replied: “I’m very concerned that some people seem to have been unfairly removed from the ability to vote in this election.“A number of people have contacted me as a result of that and we have sent the names in that we’re concerned about to the general secretary, and asked him to make sure that the party checks into this carefully to make sure that everyone who is eligible to vote is able to vote in this election. We want a fair and open election.”
In a statement, Draper, whose union has about 20,000 members, said he had received an email from the party on Tuesday saying he was suspended.
“I am now blocked from attending Labour party meetings, annual conference and, above all, voting in the leadership election,” he said. “The only explanation I have been given is that this is something to do with an unidentified tweet I have posted. I have not been given the opportunity to refute any allegations, or a date for any hearing.
“I believe this flies in the face of natural justice. I intend to challenge my suspension robustly and am currently taking legal advice.”