Diane Abbott has told the BBC she has been barred from standing for Labour at the general election.
The former shadow home secretary was suspended in April 2023 after saying Jewish, Irish and Traveller people do not face racism “all their lives”.
On Tuesday it was revealed her suspension had been lifted following an investigation.
But she told the BBC she will not be allowed to stand for the party in her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat.
Labour has not yet said who its candidate will be in the constituency, which had a Labour majority of more than 33,000 at the last election.
The party is currently selecting remaining candidates ahead of a meeting to endorse them next week, before nominations legally close on 7 June.
In a post on X, Ms Abbott said she was “delighted” to have been readmitted to the parliamentary party.
“I will be campaigning for a Labour victory,” she said.
“But I am very dismayed that numerous reports suggest I have been barred as a candidate.”
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said he was glad the suspension had been lifted.
He told BBC Breakfast the comments which led to her suspension were “wrong” but she had apologised and that had “clearly been accepted”.
He added: “I am not up to speed with the latest decisions around Diane Abbott. My understanding was that the National Executive Committee hasn’t yet taken decisions on approving candidates across the country so I’m hearing this for the first time.”
A spokesperson for left-wing campaign group Momentum said: “We are sickened and disgusted by this news – the way Keir Starmer has treated Britain’s first Black woman MP is appalling, vindictive and cruel.”
Labour launched an investigation in April last year after Ms Abbott wrote in the Observer that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people “undoubtedly experience prejudice” which she said is “similar to racism”.
The letter added: “It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice.
“But they are not all their lives subject to racism.”
Ms Abbott apologised and withdrew her remarks shortly after they were published.
BBC Newsnight revealed earlier that the party’s investigation was completed in December 2023.
Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) issued her with a “formal warning” for “engaging in conduct that was in the opinion of the NEC, prejudicial and grossly detrimental to the Labour Party”.
It said it expected her to undertake an “online, e-learning module” which a source said was a two-hour antisemitism awareness course.
Ms Abbott did the module in February, after which it is understood she received an email from Labour’s chief whip acknowledging she had completed it.
However, as recently as Friday, Sir Keir had been saying the investigation into her comments was not “resolved”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Labour needed to “clear up” this issue.
“The Labour Party has been telling everybody this investigation into Diane Abbott is ongoing, it now appears it concluded months ago,” he said.
The Scottish National Party said Sir Keir’s treatment of Ms Abbott was “disgraceful” and “shows a total lack of judgement”.
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First black woman to be elected to Parliament in 1987, as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in east London
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After a long career on the backbenches, she was promoted to Ed Miliband’s front bench following her unsuccessful bid to become Labour leader in 2010
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Previously held the posts of shadow international development secretary and shadow health secretary
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A close ally of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, she was appointed as his shadow home secretary in 2016, a position she held until 2020
Meanwhile, former Labour MP Graham Jones, who was suspended from the party in February over comments he allegedly made about Israel, also said this had now been lifted.
Mr Jones had been selected as Labour’s candidate for Hyndburn, the seat he previously held until 2019, but it is not clear if he has been reinstated for the upcoming election.
Mr Corbyn, who was suspended as a Labour MP in 2020 for saying the scale of antisemitism within Labour’s ranks had been “dramatically overstated” by his opponents, has confirmed he will stand against the party.
He will contest Islington North, which he has held since 1983, as an independent candidate. A complete list of candidates standing in the seat will be available on the BBC website after nominations close.
