In the United Kingdom, Tom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, has unexpectedly announced his resignation. He will not stand for the parliamentary elections on December 12. His departure is seen as a loss for the moderate faction within Labour.
Watson was considered the leader of the group opposing the planned British exit from the EU. This also made him an adversary of party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Many moderate party members viewed him as the one who should keep the zealous left-wing Corbyn faction in check.
In his resignation letter to party leader Jeremy Corbyn, Tom Watson wrote that he was stepping down "for personal, not political reasons." In September, Watson survived an attempt by critics to sideline him at a party conference. The 'Corbynists' wanted to abolish his role within the party entirely. That motion was ultimately withdrawn.
There is significant division within left-wing Labour over a possible exit from the European Union. Watson belonged to the wing that wants the party to take a clear anti-Brexit stance but ultimately lost that battle. British media describe his departure as a loss of the moderate Labour voice. British opinion leaders say that Labour now risks that pro-Europe young voters will massively choose the Liberal Democrats or the Greens.
Labour's official Brexit stance is less decisive than that of other parties. Corbyn’s party wants to throw Boris Johnson’s EU deal in the trash and negotiate a different, smaller Brexit agreement with the EU. The outcome of such EU negotiations would then be put to a referendum for British voters. Voters would also have – through rejection of such a Labour-EU deal – the choice to remain in the EU. However, it is unclear which scenario party leader Corbyn would campaign for, so British voters still do not know where they stand with Labour.
Corbyn says that his party is participating in these parliamentary elections to win a Labour majority of its own. He does not want to form a coalition with the Lib Dems or others before the elections. The Liberal Democrats’ frontwoman, Jo Swinson, said at the start of their election campaign that her party does not intend to help Corbyn gain power. Corbyn and Swinson did not say what their parties would do if after the elections no party achieves an outright majority and a British two-party coalition government becomes necessary.
Watson is far from the only British politician now turning away from politics or their party. Both among the Conservatives and Labour, dozens of MPs are no longer standing for election. Many of them criticized what they called a poisoned and hostile atmosphere, not only within their own political factions but also among voters and party members.
Also among EU-haters within the former UKIP party and Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, an open struggle has broken out, with former allies and party members denounced and publicly humiliated. Recently, the figurehead of the Conservatives in Scotland also resigned.
John Bercow, after stepping down as Speaker of the British Parliament, criticized the planned departure of his country from the EU. He called Brexit “the biggest postwar mistake” of his country when speaking to foreign journalists. As Speaker, Bercow had to remain neutral during the political crisis surrounding Brexit. Brexiteers often complained that he sided with their opponents. Bercow maintains that he was impartial as Speaker. He stated that he defended the rights of Parliament.