From MacDonald to Corbyn: a history of Labour leaders who ran afoul of the party

Corbyn is the first ex-leader to be suspended from Labour – but he wouldn’t be the first to be expelled

Jeremy Corbyn already had a special place in the political record books. His more than 600 career Commons votes against Labour make him easily the most rebellious backbench MP ever to become a party leader. But Corbyn’s suspension from the party he led until April this year is a spectacular new first.

No former Labour leader in history has ever been suspended from the party. However, if Corbyn’s suspension – which he has said he will “strongly contest” – leads to his eventual expulsion, he will share a fate with a very different former Labour leader, in the shape of Ramsay MacDonald.

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