Labour MPs who make trouble for Jeremy Corbyn should expect to be de-selected, Ken Livingstone says

But right-wing MPs who toe the line would be unlikely to face challenges, he claims

Ken Livinstone, former Mayor of London (BBC)

Labour MPs who challenge Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of Labour should expect to be challenged for de-selection by activists who support him, Ken Livingstone has said.

The former Mayor of London said that although automatic re-selection was not likely to be reintroduced, Labour activists would inevitably select MPs whose views they agreed with when constituency boundaries changed later this parliament.

“[Simon Danczuk has] already announced he might stand against Jeremy Corbyn, he’s got a right to do so, that’s politics,” he told the Sunday Politics programme.

“If your local MP is undermining Jeremy Corbyn, opposing the anti-austerity measures we’re putting forward, people should have a right to say ‘I’d like to have an MP who reflects my views’. It shouldn’t be a job for life.”

Asked whether he supported calls to de-selection MPs who regularly defied the Corbyn whip, he said: "Yes. If a thousand new members joined your local party because they supported Jeremy Corbyn's policies, that's fine, they should have a right to challenge that. It doesn't mean they'll necessarily win."

Mr Livingstone said he did not believe right-wing Labour MPs who moderated their criticisms of Mr Corbyn were under threat, however.

He also pointed out that he had faced re-selection proceedings from right-wing activists who disagreed with him when he had been a Labour MP.

Jeremy Corbyn at the Royal Gallery on Tuesday for the state visit of China's President (Getty Images)

The former Mayor of London said the parliamentary Labour party would likely be re-shaped in the image of Mr Corbyn as restrictions on who could become an MP from the Blair and Brown era were lifted.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell this morning reiterated that the Labour leadership did not support the re-selection of MPs and said such battles would only occur where multiple MPs had a claim to the same constituency after the boundary review.

“Jeremy Corbyn, at the last Parliamentary Labour Party, made it clear that the existing rules on selection and reselection will be carried out in the same way as the last Boundary Commission,” he told the Andrew Marr Show.

“There is no way that we will allow MPs to be deselected in that way. We will work together on this.”

The Independent on Sunday reported today that right-wing Labour MP Simon Danczuk has said he could act as a “stalking horse” to start a leadership election against Mr Corbyn.

Mr Corbyn was elected last month by a landslide of party members, affiliated trade unionists, and supporters. He has more limited support in the parliamentary Labour party, however.