Sir Keir Starmer to change the rules to block toxic Jeremy Corbyn

© Joe Giddens/PA Sir Keir Starmer is trying to stop Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour MP in Islington North at the next general election – Joe Giddens/PA

Sir Keir Starmer will change party rules to block Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate at the next election.

The Labour leader will propose a motion on Tuesday that makes clear the party’s ruling body will not endorse his hard-Left predecessor in Islington North.

The motion says that Labour’s chances of winning would be “significantly diminished” if Mr Corbyn is allowed to stand for the party.

Mr Corbyn has yet to comment on the move. He will now have to decide whether to stand as an independent against the official Labour candidate in the seat.

The former leader had the Labour whip removed in October 2020 after claiming the scale of the party’s anti-Semitism problem had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons” during his leadership.

He made the comments on the day that the Equality and Human Rights Commission said the party was “responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination” against Jews.

Mr Corbyn now sits in the House of Commons as an independent MP, although he is still a member of the Labour Party.

Sir Keir will propose his motion at Tuesday’s meeting of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).

A senior Labour source said: “Keir Starmer has made clear that Jeremy Corbyn won’t be a Labour candidate at the next general election. 

“The Labour Party now is unrecognisable from the one that lost in 2019. Tuesday’s vote will confirm this and ensure we can focus on our five missions to build a better Britain.” 

The NEC has the power to endorse, or not endorse, a candidate selected for election.

The motion states that the Labour Party’s purpose is to win elections and that “the Labour Party has not secured a parliamentary majority in the House of Commons since 2005”.

It points out that “in the 2019 general election, led by Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party returned 202 MPs to Parliament, being the lowest number of Labour Party MPs returned since the 1935 general election”.

The motion goes on: “The Labour Party’s standing with the electorate in the country, and its electoral prospects in seats it is required to win in order to secure a parliamentary majority and/or win the next general election, are both significantly diminished should Mr Corbyn be endorsed by the Labour Party as one of its candidates for the next general election. 

“This meeting of the NEC considers and agrees that in order to effect the NEC’s primary purpose to maximise the Labour Party’s prospects of winning the next general election, and to avoid any detrimental impact on the Labour Party’s standing with the electorate in the country as a whole; the Labour Party’s interests, and its political interests at the next general election, are not well served by Mr Corbyn running as a Labour Party candidate.

“It is not in the best interests of the Labour Party for it to endorse Mr Corbyn as a Labour Party candidate at the next general election.”

Mr Corbyn has been approached for comment.

© Provided by The Telegraph Profile | Jeremy Corbyn

When Sir Keir indicated earlier this year that he was planning to block him from standing, Mr Corbyn accused him of a “flagrant attack on the democratic rights” of Islington North party members – saying it was for them, “not party leaders”, to decide who their candidate should be at the next election.

A spokesman for the pro-Corbyn Momentum group said: “We utterly condemn this venal and duplicitous act from Keir Starmer, which further divides the Labour Party and insults the millions of people inspired by Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. 

“We urge all NEC representatives to reject this anti-democratic manoeuvre – it should be for Islington North Labour members to decide their candidate, not a neighbouring MP drunk on his own power.

“It will come as a surprise to party members in Islington North, who overwhelmingly want Jeremy to be the Labour candidate. Keir is doing this because he knows Jeremy would wipe the floor in any selection contest.”

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