UK's First Black Woman Lawmaker Says Labour Party "Banned" Her From Polls

Diane Abbott, the first black woman to become an MP in the UK, on Wednesday said the Labour party has "banned" her from standing as its candidate in the general election.

Abbott, the MP for a northeast London constituency since 1987, was suspended by Labour in April last year over contentious comments she made about Irish, Jewish and Traveller people not facing racism "all their lives".

Although she promptly apologised and withdrew the remarks, made in a letter to the Observer newspaper, the party launched an investigation. 

Its findings have not been publicly disclosed. However, the 70-year-old lawmaker revealed she had been readmitted to Labour's parliamentary ranks this week but told that she could not run for the party in the July 4 election.

"Although the whip has been restored, I am banned from standing as a Labour candidate," Abbott told the BBC, using the term for formal party allegiance in parliament.

The revelation threatens to become a major election campaign distraction for Labour, which is heavily tipped to reclaim power for the first time in 14 years in the July contest.

It has also spotlighted long-standing factional splits within the opposition party, and drawn condemnation from a left-wing base already critical of its centrist shift under leader Keir Starmer.

Abbott, who stood to be party leader in 2010, is a highly respected figure within Labour ranks.

She is a close ally of leftist ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn, who appointed her as the party's home affairs spokesperson during his 2015-2020 tenure as leader.

Corbyn was suspended by Labour in 2020 after he refused to fully accept the findings of a rights watchdog's probe into claims that anti-Semitism became rampant within the party under his leadership.

He had been sitting as an independent MP since then and last week announced he would stand in the upcoming election as an independent candidate.

Abbott has not said whether she intends to do the same.

Starmer has faced growing pressure to clarify the situation regarding her status.

He has insisted that the disciplinary process is independent and that the party's executive board would decide whether she could stand in July.

It is due to meet next week to finalise the party's formal list of candidates.

"This is a matter that will have to be resolved by the National Executive Committee and they'll do that in due course," he said on Tuesday.

But the Labour leader, widely expected to be Britain's next prime minister, is set to face further questions about the matter while campaigning on Wednesday following Abbott's comments.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)