Crispin Flintoff

Crispin Flintoff     ( political activist)
Born	17 September 1970
Alma mater	University of Glasgow
Interests	Labour Grassroots
Party	Labour, Your Party
Media savvy political activist for Your Party

Crispin Flintoff is a British political activist who used to be a fundraiser for the Labour Party. He founded Stand up for Labour in 2012 and, in a five-year period, organised over 200 comedy nights across England, Scotland and Wales that raised over £150,000 for over 100 CLPs. He was expelled from Labour in June 2022.

In January 2026, Flintoff decided to stand for election to the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of Your Party.

Standing for Your Party

On 13 January 2026, Crispin Flintoff posted on Facebook:

For years I felt shut out of politics. I didn’t believe it was for people like me.

That changed after my daughter was born. I watched David Cameron’s Tories and Nick Clegg’s Lib Dems - of whom Zack Polanski was a happy member - set out a programme of cuts that would hit my family, my community and the whole country.

At that time, I saw no other way other than to join the Labour Party. I threw myself into organising locally and nationally. I created Stand Up For Labour and put on over 250 mobilising events for constituency parties across the country. And, after a while, I realised that building the grassroots was the opposite of what party bureaucrats wanted.

When Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader, everything seemed to change. In 2017, we glimpsed what’s possible when people feel politics belongs to them. We came close – but then sabotage and over-centralisation drained the movement.

Since then I’ve kept grassroots organising visible and connected through independent media - Not the Andrew Marr Show and now The Crispin Flintoff Show - covering local activism, Starmer’s Labour purge and the courage of people speaking out on Palestine.

Now Your Party has arrived, I don’t want us to repeat the same mistakes. I’m standing for the CEC to help build a party that can’t be derailed by factions competing for power.

My priority is simple: create a dynamic grassroots and stop sabotage from bureaucrats. Local parties should have real autonomy, transparent access to sign-up data and a fair share of members’ subscriptions.

Keep the centre lean; resource communities. That’s how we turn enthusiasm into local campaigns – and win seat by seat.

If elected, I’ll keep members updated on party business as fully as committee rules allow because trust is built through openness and accountability.

Host on Zoom

Not the Andrew Marr Show

For over 3 years, Crispin Flintoff hosted the "Not the Andrew Marr Show" on Sunday mornings and "Not PMQs" on Wednesdays, which were broadcast on Zoom and sponsored by Labour Grassroots.

The Crispin Flintoff Show

From Sunday 4th August 2024, NTAMS relaunched as The Crispin Flintoff Show. Flintoff said:

"It will have a new logo, new artwork and a new website. And I'll get my hair cut.

"I would to use this rebranding as an opportunity to improve the show and it would be great if you could help by giving me feedback in this survey.

"Thank you to everyone who has donated towards the cost of rebranding. If you would like to help, the bank details are here:"

Crispin Flintoff

TSB

Sort code: 776663

Account number: 03934060

Remarkable 3-way Zoom

Remarkable 3-way Zoom with Crispin Flintoff, Motasem Dalloul and Jeremy Corbyn

On 17 August 2025, Palestinian journalist Motasem Dalloul, speaking from Gaza, took part in The Crispin Flintoff Show and held a remarkable 3-way Zoom with Crispin Flintoff and with Jeremy Corbyn, who was speaking from Tokyo.

Dalloul gave a detailed account of his close and extended family members and their friends being murdered in Gaza by the IDF and accepted Corbyn's invitation to give evidence of Israel's atrocities at the Independent Public Inquiry into UK involvement in Israeli military operations in Gaza, which takes place in Church House, Westminster on 4th and 5th September 2025.

Expelled from Labour

Interviewing Mick Lynch on the picket line

Having interviewed RMT union leader Mick Lynch on a GMB union picket line in South London on 26 June 2022, Flintoff emailed his supporters the following day as follows:

After the high of interviewing Mick Lynch yesterday morning live from an NHS picket line in South London, I came down to earth with an email from Labour saying I have been expelled from the party.

From the beginning of lockdown I tried to keep people together in the party who were isolated by Covid restrictions and we have uncovered many Labour members who have been unfairly treated by party bureaucrats. Decent people who have been smeared, abused and bullied. I called it out.

In April, the Labour Party's solicitors sent me a threatening letter that called on me to stop featuring Ben Timberley's investigation into party officials. They also sent me a notice of expulsion letter for threatening a member of Labour staff.

Last Wednesday a panel of NEC members met and decided to terminate my membership of the party.

I'd be honoured if you would join me for my Expulsion Lunch on Wednesday's "Not PMQs" (1-2pm).

Ben Timberley will also be back with another investigation in "Behind Labour". And we will also feature music, poetry and book recommendations. It certainly won't be all doom and gloom.

Register to receive a Zoom link.

All the best

Crispin Flintoff

"Not PMQs"

Building relationships and communities

On 26 March 2025, Flintoff posted on Facebook:

A month or so ago, I posted about how I have heard a few people in their 70s saying they are looking forward to dying as they find the state of the world so depressing.

I put it down to the way Starmer has sucked all the hope out of us, but there is more to it than that.

Many people have been struggling with depression or low spirits for a considerable time and I think I can trace why this is from personal experience.

I feel more isolated than I have ever felt in my life. My social circle is very small. I don’t tend to make an effort with friends and family. And I have noticed that other people feel the same from posts I've been reading on here.

I can trace how things changed for me back to 2010 when I was made redundant from my last permanent job. From my first job at Charing Cross Hospital in the 1980s, delivering medical equipment to wards and laboratories; to collecting trollies or working on the till at Sainsburys in the 1990s; or sub-editing really hard-going articles on the law, medicine or shipping in the 2000s: I loved the camaraderie of the workplace.

We’d have tea breaks together, fag breaks, go to lunch or to the pub after work. Or we’d go to parties at each other’s houses. Some workplaces had social clubs – working men’s clubs – and people would feel a sense of belonging for their entire lives through their job. At the time, I didn't realise that I was living the dream.

But, since 2010, I've had no job security and none of the places I've worked at have kept me on for more than a six or nine month contract. And it's felt like the other workers don't want to know you once you've done your time.

The end of job security has had a massive impact on people’s mental health. At the same time as job security has become a thing of the past, our social lives have started to revolve around communicating online - especially on social media or WhatsApp.

People don’t bother ‘catching up’ with each other as much as they used to as I can just check someone’s Facebook posts or send a Whatsapp maybe with a couple of pictures.

This situation was even more pronounced during lockdown. With lockdown, we became fearful of other people.

On Sunday I spoke to someone who is still isolating and doesn't go out if it is not essential. There are apparently two million people in this country who don't feel safe enough to go out. And who can blame people for feeling scared when our world view is shaped by what we see on mainstream media and also on here - most of which is deliberately alarming click bait.

Social media also produces a feeling of being ‘less than’. People filter their images and their lives to look as glamorous as possible and this can make people feel they are not good enough.

This online culture also feeds personal attacks and cancel culture. People argue about who is right and wrong and put themselves into groups. They then reinforce their idea they are in some kind of tribe with only people they agree with. God knows how many friends I have lost through this.

Bickering on social media divides us all and weakens any opposition we have to constant attacks being made on us by the government.

What we call ‘the Left’ is in a terrible state at the moment because of this.

We need to build real relationships again and build communities that have gone. Our spirit is being broken. I am sort of trying that with the Zoom show every Sunday morning and I’ve got a 'Curry on Comrades' coming up at the end of April. These things keep me going!

 

A Document by Crispin Flintoff

Title	Document type	Publication date	Subject(s)	Description
Document:Without my brother John-Paul, I wouldn't be here	blog post	9 June 2025	Crispin Flintoff Global March To Gaza	"I know there’s a real chance I’ll face danger or difficulties when I get to Egypt on the way to Gaza. But before I go, I want to express my gratitude to the one person who made it possible for me to take any kind of stand at all: my brother, John-Paul. Without him, I wouldn’t be here."

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Without my brother John-Paul, I wouldn't be here	blog post	9 June 2025	Crispin Flintoff	"I know there’s a real chance I’ll face danger or difficulties when I get to Egypt on the way to Gaza. But before I go, I want to express my gratitude to the one person who made it possible for me to take any kind of stand at all: my brother, John-Paul. Without him, I wouldn’t be here."

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