LABOUR PARTY membership plummeted by 91,000 members last year because of “factional leadership,” grassroots campaigning group Momentum claimed today.

The party’s accounts at the end of 2021 show that membership stood at 432,213, down from 523,332 in 2020 — a drop of around 17.4 per cent.

The accounts also show that the size of Labour’s financial deficit went up from £1 million to £5.2 million.

Latest figures from July suggest that the party may have lost even more members since year end, with just 382,000 being fully paid up. 

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer brushed off the slump, saying that party membership always declines between elections.

Labour is still thought to have more than twice as many members as the Tories. But the Tories do not publish membership figures even though they are deciding who the next prime minister will be.

Campaign group Momentum, which was set up in the wake of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership victory in 2015, blamed Sir Keir’s “factional” leadership of Labour for the membership slump, accusing him of “alienating” trade unions affiliated to the party.

Momentum co-chair Hilary Schan said: “These figures are alarming. Sir Keir’s pledge-breaking and factional approach has prompted an exodus of Labour members and a financial crisis for the party.

“Yet the leadership has welcomed these departures while actively alienating Labour’s affiliated trade unions, which give millions to the party.”

But the Labour leader rejected this, telling the BBC that the fall reflected a “very familiar pattern.”

He said that the party’s membership figure “goes up dramatically” ahead of elections or leadership contests, then “flattens back down again.”

“I’ve looked at the patterns — they are exactly as we would have expected,” he said.

Accounts submitted to the Electoral Commission show that Labour membership fees fell by around £3 million, after a drop from £19.3m in 2020 to £16.2m.

The party said that fee income overall was still comparable to 2017 and 2018, after a boom in membership under Mr Corbyn's leadership.

Labour raised almost £10m in donations in 2021 from members, major donors and unions — an increase from £5.7m a year earlier.

Income overall stood last year at £46m, compared with £32m for the Conservatives.

NEC member Mish Rahman said: “The NEC have heard endless explanations about the loss of short money but no plans on member retention.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Thanks to Sir Keir’s firm leadership and clear commitment to taking Labour back into power, the party is on track to returning to a firm financial footing – with commercial income and donations rising significantly.”