Life in Dianne Abbott's North London constituency where residents 'will vote for her despite not liking Labour'

Dianne Abbott has been a major player in British politics for decades, but after months of uncertainty ahead of July 4's General Election, she was told she would be permitted to stand for Labour.

In 2023, Abbott was suspended from the Labour Party and because of the suspension, she would not have been able to stand as an MP for Labour. She eventually had the whip restored which allowed he to stand for Labour, but there were doubts over this happening as some papers were briefed that she had been barred from standing.

Abbott has served the constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987. She was Britain's first female Black MP and some locals believe that her treatment by the Labour Party is directly linked to that.

READ MORE: The North London constituency that could switch from Tory to Labour for the first time in 50 years

Tony Odilibe, 62, told MyLondon that Diane Abbott has been treated 'like most black people get treated this country, very badly'.

Despite his backing of Abbott, Tony was despondent about the potential leaders of the country. He said: "If you ask me if anything's going to change, I know nothing's going to change. Most people know nothing's going to change. But we still could continue to deceive ourselves that it will. What's the difference between Sunak and Starmer? Nothing."

Jane Cooper, who gave her age as over 50, said that she was a lifelong Labour supporter and her preference was to always keep Abbott as a candidate but it was not going to be the end of the world if she did not stand.

She said: "I think at the end, if there were other reasons that they wanted her either in the House of Lords or not standing them, you know, it's not a do or die for me in terms of voting Labour but I would like her to stand."

Felipe, 44, said that he thought Abbott was 'a brave woman' and 'towards the left' which he agreed with. When asked what he thought about Labour's treatment of her, he said simply 'I think it's wrong'.

Tina, 61, who has lived in Stoke Newington for 25 years said that the 'appalling way that Diane Abbot was treated by the Labour Party' was her most pressing concern around the upcoming election. She said that after the treatment she wanted to see Abbott 'get the biggest majority that anybody gets in the whole country'.

Her other concerns when going to the polls will be about how racism has been 'weaponised' in this country by the current government. Tina said: "I mean, like I said, I'm 61 years old and I've stopped wanting to go to certain parts of the country because of this whole thing about Europe."

Tina is also concerned with the Labour's treatment of not just Abbott but other MPs and the Israel-Gaza conflict. "I am concerned about Keir Starmer's stance because of the way that he treated Diane Abbott.

"And, then the way that they are backing Israel. It's not that I think it's not that I think that anything that happened on October the 7th was right, but I really don't like the Labour Party's attitude towards Gaza at all."

On local issues, Tina highlighted the traffic calming neighbourhood policies that have caused 'a lot of kerfuffle', as she put it, something that Sercan Ozcelik, 38, and one of the owners of Nature 16 on Stoke Newington High Street also mentioned.

He said parking and traffic were some of the biggest issues concerning him, along with crime, believing that more police should be on the street. Earlier this year Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said that the Met would be 1,400 short on personnel by the end of March, also stating that there are 5000 fewer officers in the force than a decade ago.

Sercan noted that people have attempted to break into his house several times and stolen his sons' bikes at other points. He said that all these experiences, and crime in the city in general, is the reason that his brother left London and he will follow suit soon. "My brother, who's the director of this place and my partner at the same time, we're planning to move out of London. He's managed to move out of London. He's in a much quieter area now.

"I think London has become one of the biggest criminal [hotspots] with cars being broken into, my house too. We are planning to move out of London and move our business out of London as well."

Don't miss out on the biggest North London news. Sign up to our MyNorthLondon newsletter HERE for all the latest daily news and more.