page_title: Ken Livingstone
section_title: Suspension from the Labour Party
hierarchical_section_title: Ken Livingstone / Post-mayoral career / Corbyn's leadership of Labour: 2015–2020 / Suspension from the Labour Party
caption_attribution_description: English: Corbyn speaking at a leadership election rally to his supporters in August 2016
context_page_description: Kenneth Robert Livingstone is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office in 2000 until 2008. He also served as the Member of Parliament for Brent East from 1987 to 2001. A former member of the Labour Party, he was on the party's hard left, ideologically identifying as a democratic socialist.
  Born in Lambeth, South London, to a working-class family, Livingstone joined Labour in 1968 and was elected to represent Norwood at the GLC in 1973, Hackney North and Stoke Newington in 1977, and Paddington in 1981. That year, Labour representatives on the GLC elected him as the council's leader. Attempting to reduce London Underground fares, his plans were challenged in court and declared unlawful; more successful were his schemes to benefit women and several minority groups, despite stiff opposition. The mainstream media gave him the moniker "Red Ken" in reference to his socialist beliefs and heavily criticised him for supporting controversial issues like republicanism, LGBT rights, and a United Ireland.
context_section_description: Livingstone was suspended from the Labour Party in April 2016 after he was accused of "bringing the party into disrepute" following a BBC Radio London interview in which he claimed "When Hitler won his election in 1932 his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel. He was supporting Zionism before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews". Livingstone had been invited to discuss the suspension of Labour MP Naz Shah, after it became known Shah had forwarded a satirical map on Facebook suggesting that Israel should be relocated to the United States. Livingstone described Shah's postings, which were made before she became an MP at the 2015 general election, as "rude and over-the-top" but not antisemitic, adding that he had never encountered antisemitism in Labour. Livingstone defended his claim about Hitler and Zionism by reference to Lenni Brenner's Zionism in the Age of the Dictators, and many commentators suggested that Livingstone was referring to the Haavara Agreement between Nazi Germany and the Zionist Federation of Germany. Livingstone's statements were criticised as ahistorical by historians, including Timothy Snyder, Roger Moorhouse and Andrew Roberts although the political scientist Norman Finkelstein said that whilst "Livingstone maybe wasn't precise enough, and lacked nuance", his comments did reflect Hitler's initial ambivalence towards Zionism.
  Over 20 Labour MPs called for Livingstone's suspension and newly elected Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan called for his expulsion. Jon Lansman, founder of the pro-Corbyn Momentum group, called for Livingstone to leave politics altogether. Labour MP John Mann publicly confronted Livingstone and accused him of being a "liar" and a "Nazi apologist". In a subsequent interview, Livingstone expressed regret both for mentioning Hitler and for offending Jews but added that "I'm not going to apologise for telling the truth". He stated that it was "absurd" to call him an antisemite because he had had two former Jewish girlfriends, and that he may have maternal Jewish ancestry. Livingstone said there was a "well-orchestrated campaign by the Israel lobby to smear anybody who criticises Israeli policy as antisemitic".
  Corbyn announced that the decision whether to expel Livingstone would be made by a National Executive Committee (NEC) internal inquiry; Livingstone insisted he would be exonerated, saying "how can the truth be an offence?" In April 2017, Labour's National Constitutional Committee held that Livingstone had brought the party into disrepute, ordering his suspension be continued for another year. The Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson stated that it was "incomprehensible" that the NEC had not decided to expel Livingstone; Corbyn, disappointed in Livingstone's failure "to acknowledge or apologise for the hurt he has caused", said a new NEC investigation would consider the comments he made after his initial suspension. As the date for the end of his suspension approached, in March 2018 the National Executive Committee extended Livingstone's suspension indefinitely, with outgoing general secretary Iain McNicol signing off on the decision shortly before standing down.
  Livingstone announced his resignation from the Labour Party on 21 May 2018, saying the issues surrounding his suspension had become a distraction. His lawyers concluded that if he had been expelled, it would take at least two years to lodge an appeal. However, he maintained his support for a prospective Labour government under Corbyn.
  According to LBC, Livingstone told the inquiry that, at times when he was overwhelmed by media interest, after Corbyn became leader, he asked members of Corbyn's staff how he should respond.
  In April 2019, Labour Against the Witchhunt announced that he had become the group's honorary president.
caption: Livingstone supported Jeremy Corbyn's candidature as Labour leader.
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