Jeremy Corbyn ‘will not stand at next election as Labour Party candidate’, says Keir Starmer

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer vowed the job to drive out anti-Jewish racism was not over (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Keir Starmer has for the first time unequivocally barred Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate at the next general election as he invited his critics to leave the party.

On what he described as an “important moment” for Labour, Mr Starmer welcomed the equalities watchdog’s decision to lift the party out of special measures over its past failings on antisemitism.

He vowed the job to drive out anti-Jewish racism was not over before he categorically said Mr Corbyn, who led the party for nearly five years, would not stand again for Labour.

“Let me be very clear, Jeremy Corbyn will not stand at the next general election as a Labour Party candidate,” Mr Starmer said after a speech in east London.

“What I said about the party changing I meant and we are not going back.”

Mr Starmer has long indicated Mr Corbyn will not be standing again for Labour but this is the first time he confirmed the barring of the veteran MP who led the party to two election defeats.

Mr Corbyn was suspended from the parliamentary party over his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) damning report in 2020.

His next steps are unclear, but if Mr Corbyn decides to run as an independent MP it could be a challenge for Labour to win Islington North, where he commands significant local support.