Jonathan Ashworth has been accused of showing “sheer entitlement” and thinking voters “owe him something” after his sit-down with Kay Burley on Sky News today.
The former MP for Leicester South was last week ousted from his seat, which had a majority of more than 22,000, by a pro-Gaza independent who won on an anti-Starmer ticket.
Since Mr Ashworth's disastrous loss, he has landed himself a plum new role working for the think tank “Labour Together”, which he claimed was instrumental in propelling Sir Keir Starmer to victory in the general election.
Speaking to the broadcaster this morning, Mr Ashworth boasted that he had been “snapped up pretty quickly” by the organisation.
He said: “I've been appointed as their chief executive. This week I'm going to be thinking about how Labor wins the next general election.”
But his apparent gloating sparked a furious backlash from left-leaning political commentator Aaron Bastani who has been a vocal critic of the Starmer-led Labor party since Jeremy Corbyn was replaced as leader in 2020.
Reacting to the clip on X, he said: “The sheer entitlement of Jon Ashworth is really striking.
“It runs right across the political class (see also: Kemi Badenoch dismissing Reform because… the Tory party is 200 years old).
“These people think they are owed something by voters. They aren't!”
Mr Ashworth's constituency, where around 30% of the electorate are Muslim, has been held by the former Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for 13 years from 2011 to 2024.
His defeat was indicative of a major headache for Sir Keir's Labor in which the party is grappling with its vexed stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict raging in the Middle Eastern region.
It resulted in Labour's vote share being squeezed by pro-Gaza candidates in the general election – some with disastrous effects and in other cases Labor candidates managed to hold on by the skin of their teeth, such as Wes Streeting in Ilford winning by around 500 votes. and Jess Phillips in Birmingham Yardley seeing her majority slashed to just 693 votes.
Mr Ashworth's constituency has been at the center of a fresh controversy this week after it emerged a man who celebrated the ex-Labour MP's defeat had been charged with terror offences.
Majid Novsarka, also known as Majid Freeman, was a prominent backer of new MP Shockat Adam, who ousted Labour's former shadow paymaster general.
Asked by Sky News if he planned to run for election again, Mr Ashworth was coy.
He told Kay Burley: “We will see. The next election is four to five years away.
“If you want to effect change and improve people's lives and improve the National Health Service and improve the schools that our children go to, Parliament is the place to be.
“Government is the place to be. You can't do it as an opposition MP for 14 years. These independents across the country will be exposed as impotent and won't be able to do anything.
“Being in government makes a difference. And just as I was determined to do everything I could to help a Labor government get elected last week, I am determined to do everything I can now to ensure that the Labor government gets a second full term in office.”