I want to be an MP for as long as possible, Diane Abbott tells supporters
Diane Abbott has said she wants to remain as an MP for Hackney for as long as possible.
At a rally of supporters outside Hackney town hall in east London on Wednesday, she said: “I promise you that for as long as it’s possible, I will be the member of parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington”.
Earlier, Keir Starmer had denied that Abbott had been banned from standing as a Labour MP at the election, as the saga over the potential end to her 40-year career in the party risked descending into chaos.
Abbott told the crowd: “You have always stood with me, in good times and bad. And I will always stand with you. I’m not going to allow myself to be intimidated or frightened by forces beyond all of our control. I am going to be your MP as long as I am allowed to …
“I remember when I first ran as a Labour MP, all the way back in 1987, people thought I couldn’t win. People thought you couldn’t elect a black woman to parliament because it had never been done before. But local people went out, campaigned, knocked on doors and made me Britain’s first black woman member of parliament.
“And I have to keep faith with that loyalty. I have to keep faith with my principles. I have to keep faith with supporting and speaking up for equalities, poor people, for the community here in Hackney. So I promise you that, as long as it is possible, I will be the member of parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.”
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