Rachel Reeves has ruled out making former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn a candidate for the party following its antisemitism row.

The Shadow Chancellor said the Islington North MP, who sits in the Commons as an Independent, is not fit to stand as a Labour candidate.

Ms Reeves said: “When Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party, I’m afraid that antisemitism was rife within the Labour Party and we were investigated by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission over the treatment of Jewish people.

“When that report was published, Jeremy Corbyn sadly refused to acknowledge what had happened in the Labour Party and his role within it.

“We have got an independent complaints process within the Labour Party.

“He’s no longer a Labour MP and he will not be the Labour candidate at the next election.”

In March 2023, he was formally banned from standing as Labour's candidate for the next general election, which must be called before the end of this year.

The shortlist of candidates for the seat will be drawn up by Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) rather than a selection committee that includes local members.

Local Labour members are still pushing for Mr Corbyn, who led the party between 2015 and 2020, to be able to throw his hat into the ring to be the party’s candidate for the north London seat.

In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, Islington North Labour Party issued a statement from Islington North Constituency Labour Party (CLP) Officers.

It said: “Islington North CLP members have been informed that the National Executive Committee (NEC) has opened the parliamentary candidate selection procedure for Islington North.

“We support Keir Starmer’s statement that “Local Party members should select their candidates for every election.” We ask that local democracy be respected & that we be able to choose our prospective parliamentary candidate from amongst any Labour Party member in good standing.

“An undemocratic selection process would harm the Labour Party’s efforts to defeat the conservatives and to achieve the real change this country and our communities in Islington North desperately need.”

Applications for the seat - which was won by Labour with a 49 percent majority in 2019 - will close on Monday.

The shortlist will be announced a week later, with the Labour candidate announced on June 1.

Mr Corbyn, who has won Islington North for Labour at each of the last 10 general elections, has hinted that he may stand as an independent candidate.