It’s been a torrid week for Labour. Back in April 2023, Diane Abbott, the first black woman to be elected to the UK parliament, was suspended from the party in a row over antisemitism. In the last few days a furore over whether she would or wouldn’t be reinstated, and would or wouldn’t be allowed to stand for re-election, reached boiling point.
At the same time, Faiza Shaheen, who had already started campaigning in Chingford and Woodford Green, was told she had been deselected. She said she had apologised for liking a tweet that played into an antisemitic trope, and believed she had done it mistakenly, but had been told her candidacy was being blocked. Helen Pidd hears how the pair are far from the only left-leaning MPs worried about their political future.
Aletha Adu was on the campaign trail with Keir Starmer in Bury, Greater Manchester to hear how he was dealing with claims he was trying to undertake a purge of leftwing candidates. Aditya Chakrabotty explains how some of Starmer’s allies have had more success in their bids to be candidates.
Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images
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