Labour: Jeremy Corbyn formally blocked from standing for party in next election

Labour’s ruling body has approved Sir Keir Starmer’s motion to prevent Jeremy Corbyn running to be an MP for the party at the next election, a spokesperson has said.

The current Labour leader proposed the motion to a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on Tuesday (27 March). Starmer first ruled out the left-wing veteran standing again for Labour last month, as he insisted the party had undergone a transformation under his leadership.

The motion, which passed 22-12, said the Islington North MP “will not be endorsed by the NEC as a candidate on behalf of the Labour Party at the next general election”, expected in around 18 months’ time.

A senior Labour source told PA news agency: “Keir Starmer has made clear that Jeremy Corbyn won’t be a Labour candidate at the next general election. The Labour Party now is unrecognisable from the one that lost in 2019.

“Tuesday’s vote will confirm this and ensure we can focus on our five missions to build a better Britain," they said.

Corbyn released a statement in response on social media, saying: “Today, Keir Starmer has broken his commitment to respect the rights of Labour members and denigrated the democratic foundations of our Party.

“I have been elected as the Labour MP for Islington North on 10 consecutive occasions since 1983. I am proud to represent a community that supports vulnerable people, joins workers on the picket line and fights for transformative change.

“This latest move represents a leadership increasingly unwilling to offer solutions that meet the scale of the crises facing us all. As the Government plunges millions into poverty and demonises refugees, Keir Starmer has focused his opposition on those demanding a more progressive and humane alternative.”

Corbyn continued: “I joined the Labour Party when I was 16 years old because, like millions of others, I believed in a redistribution of wealth and power.

"Our message is clear: we are not going anywhere. Neither is our determination to stand up for a better world," he said.

Starmer initially ruled out Corbyn standing again for Labour after the announcement that the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s had decided to lift the party out of two years of special measures over its failings on antisemitism under his predecessor.

He is currently sitting in the Commons as an independent member, after he was suspended from the parliamentary party over his response to the damning EHRC report in 2020 which found that Labour had broken equalities law. The MP would be left with the option of running as an independent candidate in his north London constituency.