Poll: Should Keir Starmer ban Dawn Butler after row with Kemi Badenoch? | Politics

Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to be suspended Dawn Butler after sharing a tweet describing Kemi Badenoch as representing “white supremacy in blackface”.

The Labor MP retweeted a message from Nigerian-British author Nels Abbey, which branded Ms Badenoch’s election as the new Tory leader a “victory for racism”.

Ms. Butler then deleted the retweet that offered “tips for surviving the immediate wave of badenochism (i.e. white supremacy in blackface).”

But the Prime Minister is facing calls to abolish the Brent East MP’s Labor whip.

Tory MP nl Obese-Jecty said Ms Butler was “not the only one on the government benches to hold this view of Kemi”.

He said: “This will be a test to see if Keir Starmer removes the whip, or actually condones Butler’s abhorrent approval of this smear.”

Former Conservative chancellor Kawsi Kwarteng told GB News: “On a personal level I have always got on well with her, but her racist comments are absolutely insane.

“And you can imagine that if Kemi had lost, she would have said the exact same thing. She allegedly said: ‘Of course Kemi lost, because the Tories are racist and Britain is racist’… In their logic they place everything through the prism of racial hatred and division.

“I really think that given what she said, the whip should be removed from her. There should be some discipline and disciplinary action against this kind of truly hateful division.”

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Nadhim Zahawi, a former Tory chancellor, shared two posts on X calling Ms Butler’s comments “cruel” and “shameful”.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she strongly disagrees with the tweet reposted by Ms Butler.

When asked why no action had been taken against Ms Butler, she said: “As I said, I haven’t seen the post and I think these kinds of issues around party issues are always for the Whip.”

Prime Minister sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy were among Labor figures who hailed Ms Badenoch’s election on Saturday as the first black leader of a major British party as a historic moment.