A former shadow minister has been readmitted to the Labour party after a 10-month-long investigation into a complaint about his conduct.
Bambos Charalambous, the MP for Enfield Southgate who lost the Labour whip last June, said he was “delighted” his suspension had been lifted.
A Labour spokesperson said on Friday that Charalambous had had the Labour whip and his party membership restored. An investigation under the party’s complaints process did not uphold the complaint made against him.
Charalambous said he was grateful to Labour’s complaints board “for clearing my name after a thorough investigation into the allegations against me”.
He added: “Throughout this challenging time, my primary focus has been serving the constituents of Enfield Southgate. With this matter resolved, I look forward to returning to parliament with the Labour whip restored to be the voice of my constituents once again in Westminster.”
The decision allows Charalambous to seek re-election as the Labour candidate in his north London constituency, which he won from the Conservatives in 2017 with a 4,450 majority.
Before becoming an MP, Charalambous was a solicitor and worked for Hackney council in its housing legal team.
His shadow ministerial posts in Starmer’s team have included crime reduction, immigration, and the Middle East and north Africa. He also served as a whip and shadow justice minister under Jeremy Corbyn.
At the time of his suspension last June, Charalambous said it was related to an allegation “that requires investigation by the Labour party”. He said it was “right and proper that process is allowed to take place” and that he would “cooperate fully”.
Neither he nor Labour have commented further on the nature of the complaint.
Under the Labour party’s existing process, which has been in place since April 2022, complaints are scrutinised by a board chaired by an independent lawyer. The process was introduced after Labour was censured by the equalities watchdog over its handling of antisemitism during Corbyn’s leadership.
Several former Labour MPs including Diane Abbott and Kate Osamor continue to sit as independents as they await the outcome of complaints processes against them.
In October 2023, Conor McGinn, the MP for St Helens North, told his local paper he was leaving the Labour party and withdrawing from what he called a “flawed and prejudicial process” against him. He was suspended in December 2022 after a formal complaint.
Nick Brown, a long-serving former Labour chief whip, announced his resignation from the party in December 2023 and called a long-running internal disciplinary process involving him “a complete farce”.
