MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle has been suspended from the Labour Party after a complaint was made about his behaviour.
The Brighton Kemptown MP said in a statement that he received an administrative suspension letter “out of the blue”.
He said: “Someone (who remains anonymous to me) has made what I believe to be a vexatious and politically motivated complaint about my behaviour eight years ago. 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.”
He said he aims to cooperate with the investigation and clear his name.
The PA news agency understands that Mr Russell-Moyle was suspended from the party pending investigation after a serious complaint was received last week.
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.”
Mr Russell-Moyle said he would continue to contribute to public life in different ways “under what I hope is a Labour government”.
He added: “I wish Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner, and the Labour team the best of luck and hope to be celebrating Labour wins across Sussex and beyond on election night.”
Mr Russell-Moyle was elected in 2017. He was shadow foreign minister in Jeremy Corbyn’s cabinet and shadow environment minister in Sir Keir Starmer’s first cabinet.
The suspension comes amid an ongoing row over Diane Abbott’s future in the party. The veteran Labour MP has had the whip restored but it is not clear whether she will be able to stand as a Labour candidate in her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat.
Mr Corbyn also launched his own campaign against his former party in Islington North on Wednesday.
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