Labour’s HQ exodus continues as Executive Director Emilie Oldknow quits

Labour’s Executive Director for Governance, Membership and Party Services Emilie Oldknow has announced she is leaving, just weeks after Iain McNicol was ousted as General Secretary. At the time, Corbynite insiders had told me that Oldknow was the ‘power behind the throne’ and had been responsible for the real running of HQ as McNicol was increasingly sidelined by the party leadership. Now, that power behind the throne has left too. In a letter to party staff, she says ‘I will be leaving in the summer to pursue some new and exciting opportunities’.

Oldknow was a moderate, and had also been sidelined: I understand that she only found out about McNicol’s departure by text message on the afternoon when it was announced. Both she and the former General Secretary had believed in a policy of ‘holding onto positions’, that is, trying to keep moderates in the party’s structures for as long as possible.