Jeremy Corbyn appears to endorse Diane Abbott for London Mayor (again)

Last week Diane Abbott was caught in a sticky situation after her campaign sent out a text to supporters that was allegedly from Jeremy Corbyn. It claimed that the Labour leadership favourite is backing her to be the Labour candidate to run for Mayor. Although Corbyn and Abbott are close, Corbyn’s team were quick to distance themselves, claiming the ‘text wasn’t authorised’. It was then reported that Corbyn had decided not to formally support a candidate in the mayoral race.

So Mr S can’t help but wonder if Abbott’s campaign leaflets have been ‘authorised’? Last night at the Evening Standard‘s Labour mayoral hustings, Abbott had her team hand out campaign literature which carried a quote allegedly from Corbyn, saying ‘vote for Diane Abbott as Labour’s candidate for London mayor’:

Has Corbyn now officially endorsed his old friend Abbott? Mr S has reached out to the Corbyn camp but is yet to receive clarification.

If so, the news will come as a disappointment to Abbott’s rival Sadiq Khan, given that he was expected to work with Corbyn on an upcoming campaign event.