Labour: former party leader Jeremy Corbyn was never a friend, Sir Keir Starmer claims

Sir Keir Starmer has denied he was ever a friend of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after a move to block his predecessor from running for the party - despite previously describing him as one.

The current Labour leader sought to distance himself from Islington North MP, who now sits as an independent in Parliament following the party’s handling of antisemitism allegations under his stewardship.

Starmer last month confirmed that Corbyn would not be the party’s candidate for the Islington North constituency at the next general election, a move that was formalised in a vote by Labour’s National Executive Committee last week.

While taking questions on LBC Radio to mark his third anniversary as Leader of the Opposition, Starmer was pressed about his relationship with Corbyn, who he once described as a “colleague” and a “friend”.

“I think and hope that my position is very clear. Jeremy Corbyn will not stand as a Labour candidate at the next election," he told LBC. “That is a decision of the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee of two weeks ago now, so as we go into the next election Jeremy Corbyn will not be a Labour candidate.”

Pressed about whether Corbyn was ever a friend, Starmer said: “No, not in the sense that we went to visit each other or anything like that. I worked with him as a colleague... As I say, I haven’t spoken to him now for two-and-a-half years.”

Sir Keir also insisted he had not backed Corbyn’s leadership of the party, but had accepted a role in his shadow cabinet. “Let’s just run through it. I didn’t vote for him in 2015 when he stood as leader. I wanted him to stand down in 2016, he won again. I again didn’t vote for him.

“But I did take the view that we needed an effective opposition, that I shouldn’t just walk off the stage,” he added.

Starmer was a backer of Andy Burnham’s bid for the party leadership in 2015, and was a supporter of Owen Smith the following year. During the 2020 leadership contest, Starmer described Corbyn as both a colleague and a friend.

But the former leader has since rubbished the suggestion, and said he and his successor were not personally close. Corbyn remains a member of the Labour Party but has lost the whip, meaning he sits in the Commons as an independent.

He was suspended over his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission finding that Labour under his leadership was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination as he struggled to tackle antisemitism.

Since Corbyn was barred from standing for Labour again, he has said he has “no intention of stopping” fighting for his constituents, who he has represented since 1983.