Former Hackney mayor joins call to restore whip to Diane Abbott

Dozens of Labour party members in Diane Abbott’s Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency, among them the former mayor of Hackney Caroline Woodley, have called on Andy Burnham to restore the party whip to their MP, a year after Sir Keir Starmer suspended it.

The demand comes as the anniversary of the suspension, on 17 July, falls alongside Burnham’s expected arrival in Downing Street following Starmer’s resignation.

In a letter sent last week, the members welcomed the presumptive prime minister’s statement that Labour needs to change, and urged him to make “an important start to that change” by readmitting Abbott to the parliamentary party.

Alongside Woodley, the signatories include three former chairs of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington Constituency Labour party and seven former Labour councillors, four of whom lost their seats in May’s local elections.

Current and former constituency party officers have also signed, along with members from every branch in the constituency.

The letter argues that Abbott, who has represented the seat for almost 40 years, retains “extraordinary popularity” among both constituents and local members at a time when the party has shed support more widely.

Her suspension, the signatories say, “may well have cost Labour votes in the recent local elections”.

They also contend that on issues from NHS funding and student fees to benefit cuts, racism, the treatment of asylum seekers and opposition to war, Abbott had “disagreed with Labour leaderships” and been vindicated.

Abbott, Britain’s first black woman MP, had the whip removed by Starmer in July 2025.

She was previously suspended in 2023 over remarks about racism, before being readmitted shortly before the 2024 general election.

The letter was organised by John Stewart, a former constituency representative for affiliated trade unions.

Its other signatories include former officers for women’s, disabled members’ and trade union liaison roles, and the former councillors who left the town hall in May.