Longtime Hackney MP Diane Abbott has been banned from defending her seat in the upcoming general election, even as she is readmitted to the Labour Party.

According to a report in the Times, Abbott faces a ban from Labour’s National Executive Committee following a lengthy disciplinary process after she was accused of antisemitism early last year. 

Abbott was formally disciplined by the Labour Party earlier this year, after an internal party investigation into her comments in April 2023 in a letter to the Observer newspaper. 

Following the letter’s publication, she was accused of downplaying antisemitism by suggesting Jews do not suffer racism and comparing instead the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people to that which is experienced by Irish people and redheads. She later withdrew the comments and apologised after being suspended by the party. 

She had the whip withdrawn and a lengthy investigation followed in which she was asked to complete an “antisemitism awareness course” earlier this year. 

Abbott’s political comrade Jeremy Corbyn has also been banned from standing in his neighbouring seat of Islington North, and has declared he will run as an independent on 4 July.

Abbott has represented the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency for nearly 40 years, representing a diverse range of local residents including Europe’s largest Charedi community, in Stamford Hill.