Labour suspends MP Russell-Moyle over complaint

Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle has been suspended by the Labour Party over a complaint about his behaviour.

The MP for Brighton Kemptown has been told by the party he will not be eligible to be a candidate at 4 July's election.

He told BBC South East he believes it is a “vexatious and politically motivated complaint” about his behaviour eight years ago.

He says he will cooperate with the investigation process to clear his name, adding “I believe I will be fully exonerated”.

The Labour Party confirmed a complaint has been received and is being investigated.

Mr Russell-Moyle was elected as a councillor for Brighton and Hove City Council in 2016 and to Westminster in 2017.

He posted a personal statement on social media, saying that the complaint letter came "out of the blue" from someone "who remains anonymous to me".

He said: "This is a false allegation that I dispute totally and I believe it was designed to disrupt this election.

"There isn't enough time to defend myself as these processes within the party take too long, so the party have told me that I will not be eligible to be a candidate at the next election. I'm gutted."

He added he would work with the investigation processes "to clear my name" and would look at "how to contribute to public life in different ways" meantime and still hoped to see a Labour government.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: "The Labour Party takes all complaints extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken."

Labour's ruling National Executive Committee is meeting on Tuesday to endorse the final list of the party's candidates.

The Electoral Commission's deadline for all would-be election candidates to register is Friday 7 June.

At the 2019 general election, Russell-Moyle was re-elected as MP for Brighton Kemptown with a decreased vote share of 51.6% and a decreased majority of 8,061.

The other candidates standing in Brighton Kemptown are Khobi Vallis for the Conservatives, Elaine Hills for the Greens, Stewart Stone for the Liberal Democrats, Kellie-Jay Keen for the Party of Women, Valerie Gray for the Social Democratic Party and Elaine Ghoneim for the Workers Party of Britain.