Diane Abbott readmitted to Labour after suspension

Diane Abbott has been readmitted to Britain's governing Labour Party and had the Labour whip restored after an internal process, the party said on Thursday.

Labour said Joani Reid, another lawmaker, had also been readmitted to the party and to its parliamentary ranks.

A party spokesperson said the decisions followed a process conducted under Labour Party rules and approved by an independent review board. The spokesperson said Abbott had apologised after the process ended.

Abbott, the first Black woman to become a British MP and currently the longest-serving female MP in parliament, was suspended by Labour last year after repeating contentious comments about racism for which she had apologised.

She had been allowed to stand for Labour in the July 2024 election in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, where she was re-elected. In July 2025, she made a similar argument in a BBC interview.

Abbott wrote on X on Thursday that she was a lifelong anti-racist and remained committed to opposing racism in all its forms.

Reid had voluntarily suspended herself earlier this year after her husband's arrest on suspicion of spying for China.