Labour shortlists two for Islington North seat

Labour has whittled down its search to replace Jeremy Corbyn as a general election candidate in his north London seat to two people.

The former party leader has been sitting as an independent MP for Islington North since 2020 when he had the Labour whip suspended.

The party has shortlisted Sem Moema, a member of the London Assembly, and Praful Nargund, an Islington councillor, in the contest to be the party’s election candidate.

Mr Corbyn has not confirmed whether he will run as an independent.

A Labour Party spokesperson said the winner of the selection process could be declared on 1 June.

Mr Corbyn, who has been the MP in Islington North since 1983, was blocked last year from standing for Labour at the next election by the party’s governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC).

The former leader is still a member of the Labour Party but sits as an independent MP in Parliament after being suspended over his reaction to a highly critical report on antisemitism, having said he thought its scale within Labour had been “dramatically overstated”.

At the time, the Labour Party said Mr Corbyn had been suspended for “a failure to retract his words”, but Mr Corbyn called the move “political”.

Former BBC journalist Paul Mason was among others seeking to be the party’s Islington North candidate in the seat but failed to make the final shortlist.

Meanwhile in the nearby Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency, a decision is yet to be made on whether Diane Abbott will be allowed to stand on a Labour ticket in the upcoming general election.

Ms Abbott was suspended as a Labour MP in April 2023 pending an investigation into a letter she wrote about racism to the Observer.

She withdrew her remarks soon after and apologised “for any anguish caused”.

Asked about Ms Abbott’s status in the upcoming election, Labour’s national campaign coordinator Pat McFadden told the Today programme that the investigation and its decision on her future was independent of the party leadership.

He added: “We’ll have a full suite of good candidates in the next few days.”