Abbott: 'Starmer and I have not spoken in four years'

Britain's first Black female MP tells Nadine White how she and the prime minister still do not converse, despite being welcomed back into the Labour Party before the election

Diane Abbott has not spoken to Sir Keir Starmer properly in four years since the pair served in Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet, she has revealed.

The 71-year-old, who was elected as the first Black woman MP in 1987, says there is a clear divide in the Labour Party and accuses the prime minister of trying to “force the left out”.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Independent, Abbott, who is now the mother of the House as the longest continuously serving female MP, insists she does not regret standing up to Sir Keir and says she has been thanked by the more radical members of her party for her stance.

“I’ve not spoken to Keir Starmer in a very long time.” In fact, she says, the last time they had a “proper” conversation “might have been when Jeremy was leader and we were both in the shadow cabinet”.

The pair’s relationship came under scrutiny during the election campaign earlier this year, following speculation Abbott may not be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate.

She had the whip suspended in 2023 after she wrote a letter to The Observer which stated that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice, but not racism in the same way as Black people, sparking an investigation which saw her sit as an independent MP.

The suggestion she might be barred from standing as the Labour candidate for Hackney resulted in something of a stand-off between Abbott and Labour's leadership; eventually, she stood as the party’s candidate in the election and won by a large majority.

While she’s happy to be back in the party, Abbott claims the whole episode is an example of Sir Keir and the leadership’s attempts to oust the party’s left wing. “Starmer has been trying to force the left out of the party,” she said: “That’s partly why the membership has dropped. I think it’s halved since he became leader; (...) under Jeremy, I think we had record numbers.