Enfield MP Joan Ryan won’t contest the next election

Former Labour Friends of Israel chair Joan Ryan has announced she will not contest the next general election.

This comes after she quit the Labour Party in February of this year, saying it had been “infected with the scourge of antisemitism”, defecting to the Change UK Party. She was first elected in the 1997 general election.

Taking to Twitter to announced she wouldn’t stand again,saying it has been “a huge privilege & honour to serve as the MP for Enfield North”, thanking her constituents for electing her five times.

“When I stood in 2017 I always intended to serve only one more term in Parliament. We do not yet know when the General Election will come, but I will continue to work hard for Enfield until a new MP has been elected”, Ryan said.

She added she’d continue “working & voting to prevent a destructive, damaging no deal Brexit which nobody voted for in 2016.”

The people of Enfield have been a joy to work with and for. I am proud of all that we have achieved together.. and working with all our communities to make Enfield a great place to live”.

Paying tribute, Jennifer Gerber, director of Labour Friends of Israel, said: “It has been an enormous privilege to work with Joan over the past four years. In parliament, she has been a true friend of Israel and ally of the Jewish community, and has bravely and unstintingly fought the antisemitism crisis over which Jeremy Corbyn has presided.

We’re delighted that she will be continuing to work with LFI as our honorary president in the months and years ahead.”

Dame Louise Ellmann replaced Ryan as chair of LFI in August, with the Enfield politician taking on the role of honorary president.