Diane Abbott says she has been banned from standing for Labour

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Veteran MP Diane Abbott said on Wednesday that she had been banned from standing for the Labour party at the general election following her suspension for remarks about Jewish people.

Abbott, the leftwing MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, said in a statement that the party had restored the whip but would not permit her to stand as a candidate on July 4. Labour was contacted for comment.

The move to stop Abbott, Britain’s first Black female MP, from representing Labour will add to disquiet on the main opposition party’s left flank about leader Sir Keir Starmer’s “ruthless” style.

He has sought to pull Labour back to the centre ground of UK politics after his hard-left predecessor Jeremy Corbyn lost the 2019 election.

But some MPs have accused Starmer of sidelining his internal enemies, and this month voiced concern over the decision to admit former Tory MP Natalie Elphicke, who had previously been suspended from parliament.

Abbott was suspended by Labour in April last year after suggesting in a letter to the Observer newspaper that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people only experienced “prejudice” rather than racism.

Starmer pledged to root out antisemitism within Labour after the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the equalities watchdog, found in 2020 that during Corbyn’s time as leader the party had failed to rein in anti-Jewish sentiment among some members.

She apologised and retracted her comments shortly after the Observer letter was published, but remained suspended from the Parliamentary Labour party.

An investigation into Abbott was completed by Labour’s ruling national executive committee in December, when she was instructed to apologise, according to a Labour figure who declined to be identified.

The Times first reported that Abbott would be forced to step down on Tuesday as Labour figures briefed that the party was considering who would stand in her stead.

The Labour figure told the Financial Times on Tuesday that it was a “volatile situation” regarding Abbott’s future, but that she had been offered the opportunity to step down “with dignity” ahead of the election.

Starmer said last week that Abbott’s case would be resolved before June 4, when Labour finalises its list of parliamentary candidates.

Abbott’s constituency is a safe Labour seat — she has a majority of more than 33,000.

First elected to parliament in 1987, Abbott spent most of her career on the backbenches before being appointed shadow home secretary by Corbyn. She returned to the backbenches when Starmer took the helm.

She has been the subject of alleged derogatory remarks — Frank Hester, a leading Tory donor, was recorded stating in 2019 that Abbott made “you just want to hate all Black women” and that she “need[s] to be shot”.

West Yorkshire Police said it was investigating whether Hester’s comments amounted to a criminal offence.