Labour Party member, Diane Abbott, has claimed that the party is conducting a “cull” of left-wing candidates ahead of the UK’s general election, while a friend of the politician claimed that she has been prohibited from serving as an MP. Abbott, who was reinstated as Labour MP after a long suspension, alleges that she has been stopped from standing in July’s election, which party leadership has denied. Furthermore, a left-wing candidate, Faiza Shaheen, was prohibited from running for Labour after somebody complained that she liked social media posts which allegedly played down antisemitism. Shaheen has enlisted the services of a lawyer and is challenging the decision against her.
Sir Keir Starmer, the party leader, said that no decision has been made about Abbott, whom he referred to as a “trailblazer.” He also dismissed suggestions that he was blocking left-wing candidates from standing. Meanwhile, the Labour Party has confirmed several candidates who are loyal to Starmer in winnable seats, as it attempts to put together a full slate ahead of next week’s deadline. The party is selecting its remaining candidates before endorsing them at next week’s meeting of the National Executive Committee.
Ms Shaheen had hoped to contest the seat of Woodford and Chingford Green, which she had previously stood for in 2019. Appearing on BBC Newsnight visibly shaken, she received an email on Wednesday saying that she would “frustrate Labour’s purpose.” Yesterday, Abbott called the decision “appalling,” and asked “whose clever idea has it been to have a cull of left wingers?” Her own political future appears uncertain as she claims she has now been “barred from running” for the party in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, which she has represented since 1987.
For the Labour campaign, the politics of this episode are finely balanced. Some of Sir Keir’s supporters believe that a very public row with the left will be beneficial in advertising the message that their party has changed profoundly under his leadership. However, others are concerned that this row is spiraling rapidly out of control, while another left-winger, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, has been suspended by Labour over a complaint about his behavior and is unable to run as the party’s candidate in Brighton Kemptown
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