Why is Starmer now saying that Diane Abbott can stand as an MP?

They say a week is a long time in politics but in the Labour party just three days is enough. On Tuesday evening, the Times reported Labour sources saying Diane Abbott would be blocked from standing as a Labour MP at the election. An outcry followed from Abbott who was backed by the Labour left, some centrist Labour MPs and various celebrities and public figures. Now Keir Starmer has used a campaign visit to say that Abbott is ‘free to go forward’ as a candidate at the election. Speaking to reporters today, he said:

She’s free to go forward as a Labour candidate. The whip is back with her. It’s been restored. And of course you know she was a trailblazer for many, many years and has been a path for others to come into politics. So, formally a matter for the NEC, I’ve not expressed a view up until now. She’s free to go forward as a Labour candidate.

This is all ahead of next week’s meeting of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) where the candidate list will be finalised ahead of the Electoral Commission deadline. Starmer’s comments means there would now be a big upset were the NEC to block her. Abbott’s case dates back to April 2023 when she was suspended for a letter to the Observer newspaper saying Jewish, Irish and Traveller people do not face racism ‘all their lives’. This week she had the whip returned – but the long held hope in Starmer’s inner circle was of some kind of unspoken deal where the first black woman to be elected to parliament would choose not to stand, but be able to make that choice with dignity having had the whip restored.

However, the briefing that she would not be allowed to stand put paid to this and led to a very public row. It led Starmer earlier this week to give a very technical answer on the subject saying the facts of the matter were that ‘no decision has been made to bar her as a candidate’. That didn’t tell anyone very much given the meeting where a decision would be taken is next week – and notably, until today, he has not endorsed her as a candidate. The row becoming public meant that Starmer started to come under a lot more pressure – and had the issue gain a lot more attention than any of their planned announcements such as on the NHS.

So, what was the pivotal moment? Some in Labour believe it comes down to Angela Rayner, the elected deputy leader. In a series of broadcast interviews on Thursday, Rayner said that she believed there was no reason Abbott – who she served alongside in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet – should be blocked as a candidate. Those comments were viewed by some in Starmer’s circle to be very unhelpful. It also comes as Starmer’s team look to block other candidates ahead of the deadline such as Faiza Shaheen and Lloyd Russell-Moyle.

Now perhaps the initial Labour figure who said Abbott would be blocked was speaking without backing and had gone rogue. Perhaps the NEC will surprise everyone and block her and Starmer will try to distance himself from the whole thing. But even if this proved to be the case, the risk to Keir Starmer is that he now looks not only as though his campaign has gone off track, but that he has been forced into taking a position he didn’t want to as a result of pressure from the left of the party. Since taking over the Labour party, Starmer has won nearly all his internal battles. The fact that Abbott looks set to win this bout will not go unnoticed.

Watch Fraser Nelson, James Heale, and Paul Goodman discuss more on Spectator TV: