Cardiff West MP 'worked with Mandelson to purge Labour of left-wing activists'

Martin Shipton

Cardiff West Labour MP Alex Barros-Curtis worked closely with the disgraced former Cabinet Minister and Ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson in seeking to remove left-wing activists from the party, it has been alleged.

A Labour insider told Nation.Cymru: “In the run-up to the 2024 general election, widespread allegations emerged regarding a coordinated effort to block left-wing incumbents and aspirants, while ‘parachuting’ Starmer loyalists and party insiders into safe seats.

“While the NEC (National Executive Committee) formally managed these processes, Lord Peter Mandelson is frequently cited by party insiders and media commentators as a key informal influence - a ‘fixer’ operating behind the scenes to reshape the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) in Starmer’s image.

“Key mechanisms included:

* ‘The Starchamber’. Selection panels were accused of using aggressive due diligence to block candidates on the left for minor historical social media infractions, clearing the path for preferred candidates.

* Late Selections. By delaying selections until the election was called, the NEC could impose shortlists or single candidates directly, bypassing local member votes.

Specific individuals and constituencies that were targeted for deselection or preferment included:

* Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington): The most high-profile case. After a long suspension, she was eventually monitored heavily. Briefings suggested she would be barred from standing, allegedly to replace her with a loyalist. After a significant public backlash and support from Angela Rayner, she was allowed to stand, but the attempt to remove her was widely seen as part of this broader ‘purge’.

* Luke Akehurst (North Durham). A member of the NEC and a self-described ‘Zionist sh*tlord’ (a prominent factional figure on the right of the party). He was ‘parachuted’ into the safe seat of North Durham at the last minute. As an NEC member, he was effectively one of the architects of the selection process that he then benefited from.

* Alex Barros-Curtis (Cardiff West). Keir Starmer’s Executive Director of Legal Affairs. He was parachuted into Kevin Brennan’s seat in Cardiff West. Local members in Cardiff were reportedly frustrated by the imposition of a London-based party official with no prior connection to the constituency.

* Torsten Bell (Swansea West): Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation and a former Ed Miliband aide. He was selected for Geraint Davies’ former seat. Like Barros-Curtis, this was seen as a ‘soft landing’ for a high-profile Westminster figure, bypassing local Welsh talent.

“The core concern is that figures like Mandelson (informally) and Akehurst (formally) utilised the urgency of the snap election to bypass local democracy, systematically removing threats from the left (Abbott) and installing key allies (Barros-Curtis, Bell, Akehurst) into safe seats to future-proof the PLP against the left.

“Then there is Matthew Faulding, someone close to Barros-Curtis, Matthew Doyle, Morgan McSweeney and Mandleson. Matthew Faulding served as the Secretary to the PLP and was previously the Selections Manager for the Labour Party. He was widely known as the ‘fixer’ for the Labour right during the 2024 election cycle. He worked directly under Campaign Director Morgan McSweeney to manage candidate selections, often being the official who delivered the bad news to blocked left-wing candidates. There is strong evidence of a functional working relationship, with Mandelson acting as an informal senior advisor to the team Faulding executed orders for.

* The "Secret Spreadsheet": Reports (including from iNews and The Times) revealed that Peter Mandelson was ‘directly involved’ in helping Morgan McSweeney vet parliamentary candidates. He was reportedly given a ‘secret spreadsheet’ to review, marking down candidates he disapproved of.

* The Execution: While Mandelson provided the high-level ‘steer’ and political cover, Matthew Faulding was the operational figure who managed the panels and shortlists to ensure these preferred outcomes were met.

'Pincer movement'

The insider added: “There is extensive suggestion that Barros-Curtis and Faulding worked as a ‘pincer movement’ to control the party, though they operated in different lanes. Alex Barros-Curtis's role was to use the rulebook, compliance checks, and ‘due diligence’ dossiers to block unwanted candidates on technical grounds (eg liking a tweet from 2019). “Once Barros-Curtis’s legal team had flagged or suspended a candidate, Matthew Faulding would manage the political process of installing the replacement (the ‘parachute’ candidate).

“They appear together in numerous Politico blogs as the key operators running the PLP. They were two of the most senior figures responsible for ‘Starmerising’ the party. They were professional allies with a shared objective: removing the Left. Barros-Curtis is often viewed as the ‘heir’ to the Mandelsonian style of party management—ruthless, legalistic, and focused on total control.

“Mandelson has been a key mentor to Starmer’s operation since 2020. Barros-Curtis was Starmer’s longest-serving aide (running his leadership campaign compliance). It is widely understood in Westminster that Barros-Curtis executed the strategy that Mandelson advocated for.”

We invited Mr Barros-Curtis to respond, but he did not do so.