Diane Abbott Confirmed As Labour Candidate For General Election

Diane Abbott has been formally confirmed as a Labour candidate for the general election, following a meeting of the party’s ruling National Executive Committee.

The veteran left-winger will be allowed to stand for re-election in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, the seat she has held since 1987.

Abbott, Britain’s first black female MP, was embroiled in a bitter row over whether she would be allowed to stand.

She was suspended by Labour last year for suggesting that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people were not subject to racism “all their lives”.

She apologised, withdrew the comments and was eventually given the Labour whip back last week.

But party sources briefed The Times that Labour intended to block Abbott from seeking election for the party.

This triggered a widespread and vocal backlash from her supporters, with Abbott accusing Keir Starmer of engineering a “cull of leftwingers”.

Starmer U-turned on Friday by saying Abbott was “free” to be a Labour general election candidate and she later confirmed that she planned to do so.

Labour’s ruling NEC met on Tuesday to confirm the candidates for the election, with Sky News reporting Abbott was on the list rubber-stamped.

In a further sign of the bad blood between Starmer and Abbott, on Sunday Abbott tweeted “more lies from Starmer” above an article in which he claimed to have “more respect” for her than she realises.

The row over whether Abbott would be allowed to stand overshadowed much of the start of Labour’s election campaign.