The Labour leader has ended the speculation

The Labour leader Keir Starmer has ended the speculation about whether Diane Abbott can be a candidate for his party at the general election today.

There has been widespread confusion as to whether Abbott would be blocked from being a Labour candidate after media reports suggested that while she had the Labour whip restored she would not be allowed to stand for the party in her Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency. She appeared to confirm these reports earlier in the week, but they were denied by Starmer who had said ‘no decision’ had been made on whether or not she could be a candidate.

Now Starmer has told reporters that she is “free to go forward” as a Labour candidate.

He told journalists: “The whip has obviously been restored to her now and she is free to go forward as a Labour candidate.”

The news comes after Abbott’s fellow left-winger Faiza Shaheen was blocked by a panel of Labour’s National Executive Committee from standing as the party’s candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green. Lloyd Russell Moyle has also been de-selected as the Labour candidate for Brighton Kemptown.

The blocking of candidates has caused a furore within the Labour Party and among the wider progressive movement. A number of progressive activists have written an open letter calling on the Labour leadership to end what they are describing as the ‘factional suspension’ of candidates.

Abbott being allowed to be a Labour candidate has been welcomed by the left of the Labour party, but calls remain for Shaheen to be reinstated. A spokesperson for the left wing Labour faction Momentum said: “Starmer tried to force her [Abbott] out. She held firm – and won. This is a huge victory.

“But we know that Starmer’s appalling treatment of Diane is just one case among many. Faiza Shaheen should now be reinstated as the Labour candidate in Chingford & Woodford Green, as members voted.”

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward

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