Jeremy Corbyn blocked from standing for Labour at next general election
Labour's NEC on Tuesday voted 22-12 in favour of a motion in the name of Keir Starmer which said the party's prospects of winning the next election would be “significantly diminished” if Corbyn stood again in Islington North.
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Jeremy Corbyn has been formally blocked from standing as a Labour candidate at the next election.
Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) on Tuesday voted 22-12 in favour of a motion in the name of Keir Starmer which said the party’s prospects of winning the next election would be “significantly diminished” if Corbyn stood again in Islington North.
Shadow cabinet member Shabana Mahmood, who had seconded Starmer’s NEC motion, said:”Jeremy Corbyn is a barrier to winning elections.
“His behaviour since resigning as leader in the aftermath of one of our worst ever election defeats is a threat to winning.”
She explained that the motion, might not have directly mentioned antisemitism, but it was drawn up to ensure the issue “cannot be allowed to fester any longer” amongst the electorate.
Labour’s national campaign coordinator said the party needed to be “free of the stain of what the EHRC found” as it seeks to gain power.
In a statement the Jewish Labour Movement said: “The changes to the Labour Party must be permanent, fundamental and irrevocable. We are glad that the NEC passed its motion today.
“The Labour Party is changing for the better. If you do not like this, the door is open.”
Veteran Jewish Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge said:”Keir has done the right thing. It’s now time to move on.”
Corbyn later released a statement described the decision to ban him from standing as a Labour candidate was a “shameful attack on party democracy, party members and natural justice.”
He added:“I will not be intimidated into silence. I have spent my life fighting for a fairer society on behalf of the people of Islington North, and I have no intention of stopping now.”
Momentum called the decision an “anti-democratic stitch-up”.
Corbyn has been sitting as an independent since losing the Labour whip in 2020 after he claimed, in response to the EHRC report into antisemitism in the party while he was leader, that the problem had been “overstated” for political reasons by opponents.
He resisted calls to offer a proper apology to the Jewish community for his actions, and failed to delete the Facebook post responding to the EHRC report.
The result of Tuesday’s vote – which reflected the dominance the pro-Starmer wing of the party now has on the NEC – also appeared to suggest there had been five abstentions, mainly from trade union representatives.
The NEC had met at midday for the crunch meeting to decide Corbyn’s political future.
The MP for Islington North is now expected to announce he will stand as an independent in the seat he had represented since 1983.
His supporters are confident he can retain the seat, but historically it has proven hard for candidates standing as independents to beat the main political party they once stood for in elections.
Labour strategists are also convinced that the image of Corbyn standing against Labour at the next election will play out well amongst voters who had been scared off voting for Starmer’s party previously in other seats.
Starmer’s NEC motion said that the “Labour Party’s standing with the electorate in the country, and its electoral prospects in seats it is required to win in order to secure a parliamentary majority and/or win the next general election, are both significantly diminished should Mr Corbyn be endorsed by the Labour Party as one of its candidates for the next general election”.
It added that Labour’s hopes of victory in 2024 “are not well served by Mr Corbyn running as a Labour Party candidate”.
In an interview with Times Radio ahead of the NEC result, Momentum founder Jon Lansman criticised the decision to block Corbyn standing as a Labour candidate.
But Lansman added he would not canvass for Corbyn in Islington North if he stands as an independent saying:””I want to see Keir Starmer elected.”
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