Labour confirms Abbott 'free' to run in July 4 election

THE LABOUR Party has confirmed that Diane Abbott, Britain's first Black woman lawmaker, will be able to run in the July 4 election following confusion over her candidacy.

Labour leader Keir Starmer told reporters that Abbott is "free to go forward" to contest her seat in northeast London.

Abbott, MP for a northeast London constituency since 1987, was suspended by Labour in April last year over comments she made about Irish, Jewish, and Traveller people not facing racism "all their lives." Despite her immediate apology and retraction of the remarks made in a letter to the Observer newspaper, the party opened an investigation, the findings of which have not been publicly disclosed.

Abbott, who apologised for the remarks, was reinstated to the party this week, but media reports had indicated she would be barred from running.

On Wednesday, Abbott posted on social media that she was "very dismayed that numerous reports suggest I have been barred as a candidate," indicating she had not yet heard directly from Labour.

On Friday, prominent Black Britons signed an open letter criticising the treatment of Abbott.

Abbott, who ran for party leader in 2010, is a respected figure within Labour and a close ally of ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn, who appointed her as the party's home affairs spokesperson during his tenure from 2015 to 2020.

Corbyn was suspended by Labour in 2020 after he did not fully accept the findings of a rights watchdog's probe into claims that anti-Semitism became rampant within the party under his leadership. He has been sitting as an independent MP since then and recently announced he would stand in the coming election as an independent candidate.

Opinion polls show that Labour is widely predicted to win the election on July 4.

(Agencies)