The Labour Party is at the centre of a diplomatic row which has been described as “blatant foreign interference” in the US Presidential election. Last week, it emerged that Sofia Patel, the Party’s head of operations, had posted a message on LinkedIn indicating that she was coordinating nearly 100 current and former officials to campaign in battleground states in the run-up to the vote. Despite assertions from the Labour Party that these individuals were volunteers and were not compensated for their work, the Trump campaign’s deputy general counsel has filed a formal complaint to the Federal Election commission (FEC), claiming this is “blatant foreign interference” in the election and unacceptable.
Under the rules of the FEC, foreign volunteers on US campaigns are permitted as long as they do not receive payment for their work. Despite Patel’s assertion that “we will sort your housing” to all interested in campaigning, the Labour Party denies paying any of these individuals. However, what is of greater importance to this dispute, particularly from a diplomatic standpoint, is the allegation that the Party is formally coming to the aid of the Democrats. This is also denied by the Labour Party.
The political world in the United Kingdom demonstrates a habit of focusing on US politics, including the regular stream of British politicos heading across the Atlantic to campaign for US candidates. Senior Labour figures have asserted that the Trump campaign is “politicising” the volunteer assistance of Labour officials in the USA. They hold that the response is not a rebuke of the Party’s effort to forge bonds with Trump and his allies.
It is a challenging situation for the Labour Party to find itself in only two weeks before Keir Starmer may need to give his congratulations to President-elect Trump. Labour officials have worked hard in opposition and government to form connections with the Trump administration, as David Lammy, the foreign secretary, spent time with senator JD Vance, and Starmer had a conversation with Trump after an unsuccessful assassination attempt on him in July. Labour officials claim that the legal wrangling is politics rather than a commentary on their approach to the Trump administration
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