The Head of Operations for the United Kingdom’s Labour Party, Sofia Patel, revealed on Wednesday that nearly 100 Labour officials are going to U.S. swing states to sway the election in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Patel revealed the plan in a now-deleted LinkedIn post, calling on ten more current and former staffers of the currently ruling liberal U.K. party to join nearly 100 other Labour operatives heading to the U.S.
“I have nearly 100 Labour Party staff (current and former) going to the U.S. in the next few weeks heading to North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. I have 10 spots available for anyone available to head to the battleground state of North Carolina,” said Patel.
She invited Labour staffers to contact her at the email address “[email protected]” and told volunteers that Labour will be providing housing while the operatives campaign for Harris in the U.S.
The Labour Party head of operations did not specify whether the program is an official Labour Party initiative and did not provide details on exactly how volunteers will be helping the Harris campaign — or who’s paying for it all.
She also failed to mention whether they will be coordinating directly with the Harris campaign.
The Maine Wire reached out to the email address provided, requesting details on the program, but Patel did not respond.
In addition to deleting the post, Patel appears to have removed her entire LinkedIn account.
The Labour initiative quickly drew outrage from many on the U.K.’s right.
Right-wing British Reform Party head and Member of Parliament Nigel Farage responded with outrage over the revelation.
“This is direct election interference by the governing Labour Party, and particularly stupid if Trump wins. Who is paying for all of this,” said Farage on X.
“This is illegal,” said Elon Musk on X.
According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), foreign nationals are legally allowed to volunteer for a campaign as long as they are not compensated for their work.
It is unclear if the Labour staffers will be paid for their work promoting the Harris campaign or by the Labour government.
Labour Member of Parliament Alison McGovern defended Patel in a statement to Sky News.
“As far as I know, this is a voluntary thing and it’s about volunteers going and sharing their time. This is a normal thing that happens in elections,” said McGovern.
This is not the first time foreign politicians have interfered in favor of the Harris campaign.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized former President Donald Trump in an interview before flying to the U.S. and taking photos with Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Penn.).
“Zelensky is openly campaigning for Democrats in battleground Pennsylvania today some 50 days out from our Presidential election,” said Sen. Eric Schmidt (R-Mo.) on X.
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