The actor and comedian Robert Webb has announced that he has cancelled his Labour party membership, reiterating his belief that electing Jeremy Corbyn as party leader was a mistake.
Webb, famous for his role as Jez in Channel 4 comedy Peep Show, made the announcement during a Twitter conversation with Hopi Sen, a former head of campaigns for the Labour party under Tony Blair. “Standing order cancelled. Maybe I’ll vote for them. Maybe not,” he wrote.
Sen said that he was distressed by the move. He told the comedian: “We may not deserve your loyalty, but we desperately need your help.” Webb responded: “Half the members think I’m doing the opposite of helping. And tell me about it very horribly. Eventually you just go fuck this.” In a further tweet to former Labour party candidate Kate Godfrey, who said she was sorry about his decision, Webb added: “Sad because we give a shit. I just cant stick with all the posturing twats.”
@hopisen I don't do Spotify but I did get round to some overdue admin. Standing order cancelled. Maybe I'll vote for them. Maybe not.
— Robert Webb (@arobertwebb) November 18, 2015
@hopisen but half the members think I'm doing the opposite of helping. And tell me about it very horribly. Eventually you just go fuck this.
— Robert Webb (@arobertwebb) November 18, 2015
@KateVotesLabour @hopisen neither embarrassing nor pathetic. Sad because we give a shit. I just can't stick with all the posturing twats.
— Robert Webb (@arobertwebb) November 18, 2015
@steamedhamms @hopisen there it is. It's a personal choice & I admire those sticking around. I've just had it.
— Robert Webb (@arobertwebb) November 18, 2015
The star that said he “didn’t mean to make some big deal announcement, was just chatting away, albeit loudly in public”. He said there were a number of reasons why he left the party, “none of them especially noble, eg giving the likes of Seumas Milne £11 a month”. The Guardian’s associate editor Seumas Milne was appointed as director of communications of the Labour party in October.
Regarding the slight ooby-doo, didn't mean to make some big deal announcement, was just chatting, albeit loudly in public (1/4)
— Robert Webb (@arobertwebb) November 19, 2015
Lots of reasons, none of them especially noble, eg giving the likes of Seumas Milne £11 a month makes me feel sick. (2/4)
— Robert Webb (@arobertwebb) November 19, 2015
There's probably more to it than that & maybe I'll try to write about it next time I feel going 10 rounds with the Corbytrons (3/4)
— Robert Webb (@arobertwebb) November 19, 2015
But heart not in it now, any of it. Obvs lots of decent people voted for JC; I think they made a mistake but wish them well. That's it (4/4)
— Robert Webb (@arobertwebb) November 19, 2015
Webb announced he was re-joining the Labour party in 2013 in an open letter to Russell Brand, after Brand suggested people should refrain from voting. The comedian was a high-profile supporter of the party in the run-up to May’s general election, during which time he wrote a column for the New Statesman urging Ed Miliband to “tax me till I fart” in order to “build those million new homes, freeze the rents of young people, reopen the libraries and the Sure Start centres ... Reinvest in our health service, collar the corporate tax evaders, dismiss the non-doms, scrap the bedroom tax, let teachers teach, ignore Rupert Murdoch because you owe him nothing and restore some sense of purpose and decency to our public life”.
But Webb has been a vocal critic of Jeremy Corbyn in the past, describing the Labour leader as “almost GM designed by Tories to lose the next election”. The Guardian has contacted the Labour party for comment.
