General election: Diane Abbott ‘free’ to stand as Labour MP candidate says Starmer

After days of intense speculation, Sir Keir Stamer has confirmed Diane Abbott is free to stand at the general election.

He said: “Diane was elected in 1987. The first black woman MP. She has been a trailblazer.

“She has carved a path for other people to come into politics and public life. The whip has obviously been restored to her now, and she is free to go forward as a Labour candidate.”

Asked about whether he understands Ms Abbott’s intention to stand, he replied: “She’s free to go forward as a Labour candidate. The whip is back with her. It’s been restored. And of course you know she was a trailblazer for many, many years and has been a path for others to come into politics.

“So, formally a matter for the NEC, I’ve not expressed a view up until now. She’s free to go forward as a Labour candidate.”

It came after a clip from his For the Many podcast from 2022 was widely shared in which he said he lived in Tunbridge Wells “slightly against my will”.

Supporters of Faiza Shaheen have announced a rally in support of her General Election candidacy.

Protest organisers have said they will gather outside a supermarket in Highams Park, in the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency.

Ms Shaheen had hoped to contest the north London seat as a Labour candidate, running against Conservative incumbent Sir Iain Duncan Smith, but the party allegedly blocked her from standing over past posts on social media website X.

In a statement, the organisers said: “We are appalled by the treatment of Faiza Shaheen, who was democratically selected to represent our community. We call for her immediate reinstatement as the Labour Party candidate and the right to vote for her to be our local MP.”

Labour has since announced Shama Tatler as its candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green.

Activists held a rally in support of Diane Abbott’s candidacy in Hackney earlier this week. The Hackney North and Stoke Newington hopeful is “free” to stand as a Labour candidate in the General Election, party leader Sir Keir Starmer confirmed this afternoon.

Voters back Lord Heseltine’s claim that the current general election risks being “one of the most dishonest” in history because the main parties will not discuss Britain’s relationship with the European Union.

The We Think voter intention poll has revealed that almost six in 10 voters (58 percent) think that Brexit and Britain’s relationship with the EU should be one of the main issues in the election.

The survey of 1,242 voters commissioned by the pro-EU European Movement followed an intervention by the former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine in The Independent this week where he warned no issue can be discussed without referring it to Brexit.

Read more from David Maddox here:

Finally breaking his silence on Diane Abbott’s future as a Labour candidate, Sir Keir Starmer told reporters today: “The whip has obviously been restored to her now and she is free to go forward as a Labour candidate.”

He praised the Labour veteran as a “trailblazer”, saying: “Diane Abbott was elected in 1987, the first black woman MP.

“She has carved a path for other people to come into politics and public life.”

He had previously refused to say whether Ms Abbot would be defending her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat on July 4, as he faced claims of a “purge” of left-wing candidates.

Ms Abbott was suspended from Labour last year after she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice, but not racism, sparking a long-running process which saw her sit as an Independent MP.

She had the Labour whip restored this week, but it was briefed out that she might be “barred” from running for the party in the General Election.

Labour sources said Ms Abbott will be the Labour candidate in her long-held constituency and Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee is expected to support her candidacy.

The Labour leader has said he hasn’t been in contact with Diane Abbott and declined to clear out speculation about her future.

Speaking at a campaign event in Inverclyde he swas asked when he last spoke in person to the veteran politician, Sir Keir said: “I think I spoke to her a few weeks ago, maybe a few months ago, in the Commons.”

He added that there has been “no decision to bar Diane”, contrary to her previous claims. “Obviously she’s got the whip back and she’s been a trailblazer for many years, but the fact remains no decision has been taken.”

Sir Keir Starmer has responded to claims by Martin Forde KC that the row over Diane Abbott is leaving some black voters without a “political home”, made in The Guardian.

Sir Keir replied: “I’d say we’ve got fantastic candidates across the country, including many black candidates, leading candidates, Archie Mitchell reports. 

“I’m very proud of the team that we’ve put on the pitch. The choice at this election is a very clear choice – there’s only going to be one of two outcomes.

“We’re either going to get more of the chaos and division under the Tories or we’re going to turn a page with Labour and when we started selecting our candidates, I was very clear with the team, I wanted the highest quality candidates on the pitch for the task ahead.

“In relation to Diane Abbott, as I’ve said before, no decision’s been taken to bar her and she’s obviously now got the whip back.”

Labour is maintaining 45 per cent of voting intention, according to today’s polls from Techne UK, with a 24-point lead over the Conservatives.

The Tories have clawed back 2 per cent in the polls, after Rishi Sunak’s shock election announcement caused a dip in support last week, writes data correspondent Alicja Hagopian.

The Lib Dems and Reform UK have been neck-and-neck across the UK for the month of May, currently at 11 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

For more polls, approval ratings and top issues on the ballot read here.