As Sir Keir Starmer confronts a rebellion from Labour MPs, the House of Commons has rejected an amendment calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The Scottish National Party’s King’s Speech proposal calling for “all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza was defeated by a vote of 293 to 125.
After Starmer simply asked for “humanitarian pauses,” 56 Labour MPs sided with the SNP, including eight Shadow Ministers.
After the vote, Jess Phillips, who ran against the Holborn & St Pancras MP in the most recent Labour leadership election, resigned as Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence.
The Labour Party confirmed that eight Shadow Ministers and two shadow ministerial aids “left the frontbench” as a result of the vote.
Three Shadow Ministers resigned ahead of the election due to the “carnage” in the Middle East.
Yasmin Qureshi, the Shadow Equalities Minister, resigned in protest of the “unprecedented” scale of bloodshed.
Manchester Gorton MP Afzal Khan left his exports post over what he claimed was Israel’s “indiscriminate” response.
Paula Barker, who resigned as Shadow Devolution Minister, added: “Self-defence is not a blank cheque.”
Shadow Veterans Minister Rachel Hopkins, Shadow Local Government Minister Sarah Owen, Shadow Crime Reduction Minister Naz Shah, Shadow Solicitor General Andy Slaughter, Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden and Durham City MP Mary Foy were among the remaining MPs to leave the frontbench.
The 10 departures come after Imran Hussain stepped down as Shadow New Deal Minister last week.
Responding to the rebellion, Starmer said: “I regret that some colleagues felt unable to support the [official party] position tonight.
“But I wanted to be clear about where I stood, and where I will stand. Leadership is about doing the right thing. That is the least the public deserves. And the least that leadership demands.”