‘Rollercoaster ride’: Hackney Labour members celebrate Diane Abbott’s return to the party

Hackney Labour members who campaigned for Diane Abbott’s return to the party have welcomed the decision to restore the whip to the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP, a year after she was suspended for a second time over comments about racism.

The party confirmed on Thursday evening that Abbott — the longest-serving woman in the Commons and Mother of the House — had been readmitted, ending twelve months in which she sat as an independent.

The decision came less than a fortnight after dozens of members of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington Constituency Labour party — among them former Hackney mayor Caroline Woodley, three former constituency party chairs and seven former Labour councillors, four of whom lost their seats in May’s local elections — signed a letter urging the new prime minister to restore the whip as “an important start” to the change he had promised for the party.

Woodley said: “I am incredibly happy to see Diane Abbott readmitted to the Labour party. I know this will mean so much to her, and also to so many local campaigners who value her calls for justice, particularly in standing firm against the far right.

“It has been a rollercoaster ride, but dare I hope that our party and its core values of fairness, equality and social justice are once again on the up.

“Our Hackney North & Stoke Newington MP, the Mother of the House, is once again a Labour representative. And our new prime minister is getting stuff done. I can’t help but feel excited for what is to come.”

John Stewart, the former constituency representative for affiliated trade unions who organised the letter, said: “It’s good that Andy Burnham has acted quickly to restore the Whip to Diane.

“This is an important first step in undoing some of the damage done to the Labour party over the past few years. At a difficult time for Labour, the new leader has got off to a good start.”

The letter, as the Citizen reported earlier this month, argued that Abbott retained “extraordinary popularity” among constituents and local members, and that her suspension “may well have cost Labour votes in the recent local elections”, in which the party lost control of Hackney Town Hall to the Greens.

A Labour party spokesperson said: “Following a process conducted under Labour party rules and approved by the independent review board, Diane Abbott and Joani Reid have been readmitted to the Labour party and have had the Labour whip restored in the House of Commons.

“Diane Abbott has also apologised following the independent process coming to an end. All Labour elected representatives must be mindful at all times of their platform and the responsibilities that come with that privilege.”

In a statement posted to X, Abbott said she had been issued with a formal warning over a since-deleted tweet in which she referred to the Israel Defense Forces as the “Jewish Defence Force”.

“By inadvertently referring to the Israeli Defence Force as the ‘Jewish Defence Force’, I used wording that conflates the actions of the state of Israel with the Jewish community,” she said. “I am deeply sorry for any hurt caused by that conflation and apologise for any hurt caused by it.

“I have been and remain a lifelong anti-racist and remain deeply committed to opposing racism in all its forms.”

Abbott was first suspended in April 2023 after writing in a letter to The Observer that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people “undoubtedly experience prejudice” but “are not all their lives subject to racism”.

She withdrew the remarks and apologised, and was readmitted in May 2024, shortly before the general election, after completing antisemitism awareness training and receiving a formal warning.

She was suspended again in July 2025 after telling the BBC’s James Naughtie that she did not regret the original comments, describing them as “factually correct”.

That suspension was imposed under Sir Keir Starmer; her return comes less than two weeks after Burnham succeeded him as Labour leader and prime minister. The party says the decision was taken independently of the leadership.

Pressure had been building nationally as well as locally: more than 35,000 people signed a petition backing her reinstatement, and a Survation poll for LabourList found 64 per cent of Labour members supported readmitting her, with 26 per cent opposed.

Jewish community organisations had urged caution ahead of the decision. The Board of Deputies of British Jews described the question of Abbott’s return as “an early test of resolve for the Burnham administration”, saying the whip should not be restored without clear evidence of genuine remorse.

Joani Reid, the MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, was readmitted on the same day. She had resigned the whip in March after her husband was arrested on suspicion of spying for China; a party investigation found she had committed no wrongdoing. Her husband has not been charged and remains on police bail.

Abbott has represented Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, when she became the first Black woman elected to Parliament.