Eleven Labour councillors have been suspended from the party after its investigation into a WhatsApp group containing offensive messages, which saw a former minister sacked and a second MP lose the whip.
Ex-health minister Andrew Gwynne was fired for allegedly saying he hoped a 72-year-old woman would die after she asked a councillor about bin collections, and reportedly joked about a constituent being “mown down” by a truck.
Oliver Ryan MP, who was elected to his Burnley seat last summer and was involved in the group, was administratively suspended from the party on Monday.
A Labour Party spokesman said: “As part of our WhatsApp group investigation, a group of councillors have been administratively suspended from the Labour Party.
“As soon as this group was brought to our attention, a thorough investigation was launched in line with the Labour Party’s rules and procedures and this process is ongoing. Swift action will always be taken where individuals are found to have breached the high standards expected of them as party members.”
It’s understood the councillors are from Tameside and Stockport, in Greater Manchester, and include Gwynne’s wife, Allison.
It comes as a minister insisted it was up to voters to decide whether the two MPs who belonged to the WhatsApp group should remain in Parliament.
Education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith of Malvern said: “In the end, obviously it’s up to their constituents as to whether or not they remain as MPs. But the important point here is the things that the Prime Minister could control, he took action on.”
Lady Smith, a former home secretary, described the WhatsApp remarks as “terrible things to say for anybody, and they’re terrible things for an MP or a minister to say”.
On Sunday, Ryan posted a statement on X saying some of the comments made in the group were “completely unacceptable, and I fully condemn them”.
Gwynne, MP for Gorton and Denton, Greater Manchester, has apologised for “any offence I’ve caused” and expressed regret over the remarks. He did not suggest he would stand down as an MP.