Jeremy Corbyn will not be Labour candidate at next election, Starmer says

Keir Starmer has said Jeremy Corbyn “will not stand for Labour” at the next general election following a speech in which the Labour leader argued that the party has changed “permanently, fundamentally [and] irrevocably” since 2019.

Starmer gave a speech this morning following the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) announcement that it has concluded its monitoring of the Labour Party, which began following the equality regulator’s investigation into allegations of antisemitism within the party.

When asked following the speech whether Corbyn would stand for Labour at the next election, Starmer said: “Jeremy Corbyn will not stand for Labour at the next general election as a Labour Party candidate.

“What I said about the party changing I meant, and we are not going back, and that is why Jeremy Corbyn will not stand as a Labour candidate.”

Update, Wednesday 6pm: Corbyn has said in a statement: “Keir Starmer’s statement about my future is a flagrant attack on the democratic rights of Islington North Labour Party members. It is up to them – not party leaders – to decide who their candidate should be.

“Any attempt to block my candidacy is a denial of due process and should be opposed by anybody who believes in the value of democracy.

“At a time when the government is overseeing the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation, this is a divisive distraction from our overriding goal: to defeat the Conservative Party at the next general election.

“I am proud to represent the labour movement in parliament through my constituency. I am focused on standing up for workers on the picket line, the marginalised and all those worried about their futures. This is what I’ll continue to do. I suggest the Labour Party does the same.”

The former party leader had the whip suspended in October 2020 following his response to the publication of the EHRC’s report on allegations of antisemitism within Labour.

Reacting to the report – which found Labour was responsible for “unlawful acts” – the MP for Islington North claimed that “the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents”.

Corbyn was reinstated as a Labour member in November 2020, but Starmer subsequently decided not to restore the Labour whip, meaning the former leader sits as an independent MP.

The EHRC report found that there were “unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination for which the Labour Party is responsible”, “serious failings in leadership and an inadequate process for handling antisemitism complaints”.

The party was served with an unlawful act notice and given six weeks to produce an action plan in response to the report’s findings and recommendations.

EHRC chief executive Marcial Boo said today the equality regulator had concluded its monitoring of the party on January 31st 2023 as it was “satisfied” that Labour had “implemented the necessary actions to improve its complaints, recruitment, training and other procedures to the legal standards required”.

In his speech following the EHRC’s announcement, Starmer cautioned that it was not a moment for celebration but a moment “for reflection”.

The Labour leader said: “Be in no doubt: the job of restoring Labour is not complete, not even close. I don’t see today’s announcement as the end of the road. I see it as a signpost that we are heading in the right direction.”

Starmer declared that the party has changed “permanently, fundamentally, irrevocably”. He told attendees: “Change is never easy. And I understand that some people won’t like the changes we’ve made. But I say this with all candour: the Labour Party is unrecognisable from 2019, and it will never go back.

“It will never again be a party captured by narrow interests. It will never again lose sight of its purpose or its morals. And it will never again be brought to its knees by racism or bigotry. If you don’t like that, if you don’t like the changes we have made, I say: the door is open and you can leave.”

Responding to Starmer’s comments about Corbyn, Momentum said in a statement: “This party does not belong to one man alone – it belongs to its members [and] trade unions. It should be for Labour members in Islington North to decide their candidate – that is their democratic right.”

Asked this morning whether he would proscribe Momentum, Starmer said: “I have many powers and duties and responsibilities in the Labour party, but that one is not for me, I’m afraid.”

He added: “The Labour Party has changed. And if there’s anyone in the Labour party that does not like that change, then my message to them is very clear this morning: the door is open, and you can leave.”