Sir Keir Starmer has effectively ruled out Jeremy Corbyn standing as a Labour MP again.
The Labour leader said “he doesn’t see the circumstances” in which his predecessor will defend his Islington North seat for the party at the next election.
Mr Corbyn had the whip removed two years ago over his response to a scathing Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report into antisemitism in the party.
Sir Keir told BBC Radio 4: “We have not got to the selection of that particular constituency yet, but I don’t see the circumstances in which Jeremy Corbyn will stand as a Labour candidate.”
Mr Corbyn has been the MP for Islington North since 1983. He led the party from 2015 until the Conservative’s landslide victory in the 2019 election.
In November 2020 he was suspended from Labour after suggesting that the scale of anti-Semitism in the party, outlined by the equalities watchdog, was “dramatically overstated” by his political rivals and the media.
Later he attempted to clarify his comments in a statement, saying concerns about antisemitism are “neither ‘exaggerated’ nor ‘overstated”’.
He was readmitted to the party, but Sir Keir said he could not return as a Labour MP and would continue to have to sit as an independent in the Commons.
Mr Corbyn has been tipped to stand against Labour in the north London constituency and is also believed to be considering running as an independent candidate for Mayor.
Asked whether Mr Corbyn could stand against his party, Sir Keir replied: “I can’t speak for Jeremy on this.”
Labour’s MP candidate selection process is under way. Some of the party’s longstanding MPs have already confirmed they do not intend to stand again, including Harriet Harman and Dame Margaret Hodge.
The next general election is expected to come in summer 2024, but could be held as late as January 2025.
The latest YouGov poll shows Labour are 25 points ahead of the Conservatives.
A number of senior Tories and rising stars in the party have also already announced they will not be standing.
At least 13 have said they will be fighting their seats the next time the country goes to the polls.
They include former Chancellor Sajid Javid, vice-chairman of the influential 1922 Committee William Wragg, former work and pensions secretary Chloe Smith, leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross and Dehenna Davison who was elected in 2019 in red wall seat Bishop Auckland.
Conservative MPs have until today to tell the party whether they would like to contest their seats.
