Suspended Streatham Labour councillor claims party blocked bid to re-stand

A suspended Labour councillor and Momentum official has claimed his bid to stand for re-election has been blocked by the party.

Martin Abrams was suspended by the local Labour group last year after backing a Green Party motion calling for “an immediate ceasefire and the end to human rights atrocities in the Israel/Palestine conflict”. He remains a Labour member.

In a post on social media, Abrams claimed he had been notified by Labour that he had been “blocked from re-standing as [a] councillor candidate in the 2026 local elections in Lambeth”.

He said: “As the incumbent councillor, I stand the best chance of winning the next election. The decision of the Labour Party to deselect me and block me from re-standing will be completely inexplicable to the local community and will undoubtedly harm Labour’s chance of holding this seat.

“The people responsible for this decision are pursuing their factional obsession against the interests of both the community and the Labour Party.”

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Abrams also hit out at the party’s national leadership and said: “After 15 years of Tory destruction, there is no longer any justification, locally or nationally, to inflict further cuts or austerity on people. There should be an overwhelming feeling of hope and belief that Labour will significantly and quickly improve people’s lives, but sadly that is not what I am hearing from local people when I speak to them.

“Labour needs an urgent change of direction. ‘Starmerism’ is a failing project that has alienated core Labour Party voters potentially forever and risks gifting the keys to 10 Downing Street to Nigel Farage and Reform.”

Earlier this year, Abrams challenged Steve Reed’s parliamentary adviser Oscar Harman for the role of Streatham and Croydon North CLP chair. He received 12 votes, compared to Harman’s 60.

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