Ken Livingstone has announced he has resigned from the Labour party, following a two-year anti-Semitism row that led to his suspension in 2016.
The former Mayor of London had been accused of anti-Semitism after he claimed that “Zionists had collaborated with Adolf Hitler”, The Times reports. He repeated the statement several times after he was suspended from the party.
“The ongoing issues around my suspension from the Labour party have become a distraction from the key political issue of our time – which is to replace a Tory government,” Livingstone said in a statement.
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Livingstone was under pressure to leave the party after Shami Chakrabarti, who produced a report about anti-Semitism in Labour, “hinted that she might quit the Labour frontbench if he was not expelled from the party”, The Guardian reports.
The former London mayor was due to face a fresh round of disciplinary action from the party next week, and reportedly made the decision to resign after being made aware that several senior members of the National Executive Committee would once again call for him to be expelled.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that Livingstone’s resignation was the right thing to do, but added it was “sad after such a long and vital contribution to London and progressive politics”.
The Campaign Against Antisemitsm said Corbyn’s decision to express sorrow about Livingstone’s resignation had “rubbed salt into the wound”, says the BBC.
Labour MP Ruth Smeeth said Livingstone’s decision was “welcome”, adding that his “toxic views” should have led to his expulsion from the party “years ago”.
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