Karl Turner regains Labour whip on probation after apology over conduct

Karl Turner, the MP for Kingston upon Hull East, had the Labour whip restored on a probationary basis on 21 October 2026 after apologising for his conduct during disputes over proposed limits on jury trials in England and Wales. The decision returns him to Labour’s parliamentary ranks after an almost six-month suspension.

Turner said he wanted to apologise for the offence he may have caused colleagues. He acknowledged that his approach to arguing against the government’s jury-trial proposals had sometimes been ‘overly robust’ and that his words or actions had caused offence. He said his objections were sincerely held and reflected his commitment to justice and the rule of law.

Why Labour restored Karl Turner’s whip

Labour described the restoration as probationary but did not set out its duration or the criteria for ending it. Turner said he was grateful to have the whip back, remained committed to supporting the prime minister and looked forward to playing his full part as a Labour MP. He said he would not comment further on the issue.

The disputes behind Turner’s suspension

LabourList reported that Turner’s suspension followed an interview with campaigner and former Workers’ Party candidate Jody McIntyre. Turner had been an outspoken critic of Keir Starmer and other senior Labour figures. He had also challenged former justice secretary David Lammy over the jury-trial proposals, which LabourList reported have since been dropped under Andy Burnham.

The Evening Standard reported that Turner had publicly questioned the circumstances surrounding the reported theft of former No 10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney’s phone. It also reported that Turner called Labour’s Gorton and Denton by-election defeat to the Greens ‘catastrophic’ and criticised the decision to prevent Burnham from standing for the seat.