The Labour Party’s suspended list is ever-changing, impacting the MPs that will stand at the upcoming 2024 general election.
Diane Abbott had her Labour whip returned on Tuesday (May 28) after the party suspended the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in April last year.
This followed accusations of anti-semitism after she suggested Jewish, Irish, and Traveller people experienced prejudice but not racism.
Labour leader Sir Keir has insisted no decision had been taken about whether Ms Abbott — the first black woman elected to Parliament in 1987 — would be allowed to defend her seat.
But a defiant Ms Abbott has assured voters “I am going to be your MP.”
“I will not let myself be intimidated,” she said at a rally in north London on Wednesday (May 29) evening.
This is an example of the many complicated cases facing Labour, despite them leading the Tories handsomely in pre-election polls.
Here is a rolling list of Labour MPs sitting without the party whip.
Jeremy Corbyn
Sir Keir’s previous statements have made clear the former Labour leader will not stand as a party candidate again.
Mr Corbyn was also officially kicked out of the party last week after announcing he would stand as an independent candidate in Islington North.
The 75-year-old didn’t have much choice. A Labour National Executive Committee (NEC) vote to prevent him from running for office again was approved In March 2023.
“Labour Party’s interests, and its political interests at the next general election, are not well served by Mr Corbyn running as a Labour Party candidate” the committee said.
Claudia Webbe
Labour demanded that Ms Webbe step down as an MP after she was found guilty of harassment in November 2021 and lost her appeal in May 2022. Due to the harassment allegations, she lost the Labour whip in September 2020 and has not had it returned.
She has been an MP since 2019 and will be an independent candidate in the 2024 general election.
She won the Leicester East seat for Labour in the 2019 general election.
Ms Webbe was an Islington councillor and a national executive (NEC) member, becoming its disputes panel head in 2018.
Geraint Davies
Geraint Davies had the Labour whip suspended in June 2023 following a Politico investigation uncovering multiple claims of sexual harassment.
Swansea West’s MP of 14 years said he did not recognise the accusations levelled at him.
The inquiry is ongoing and Mr Davies said he was “unable “ to stand at the general election following his Labour Party suspension.
Conor McGinn
Labour suspended Mr McGinn in December 2022 after a complaint was made against him.
The representative for St Helens North, Merseyside, had his party membership administratively removed pending investigation.
He declared in October 2023 that he had left the Labour Party and said in May 2023 he would not run for office again.
The details of the complaint have not been made public but Mr McGinn has said that it was “entirely unfounded”.
He had represented St Helen’s North since 2015.
Nick Brown
The long-serving former Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East lost the party whip in September 2022 due to an internal investigation following a complaint against him.
The exact nature of the complaint has not been disclosed, but it reportedly relates to an incident from 25 years ago. Mr Brown has insisted the allegations are entirely false.
“[They are] without even the faintest germ of any truth to them,” he said.
