Sir Keir Starmer was “infuriated” by “anonymous” briefings against Diane Abbott, his biographer has said.
Last week reports claimed the veteran left-winger Ms Abboott had been banned from standing again in her London constituency.
But the Labour Party leader later confirmed that Ms Abbott, the UK’s first black female MP, would be free to run under the party’s banner at the general election if she chose to.
“It’s always a ‘Labour source’ when that person could have been a number of people in a number of places,” he told his biographer Tom Baldwin, in an article published in The Observer.
On Sunday night, Ms Abbott declared she was running for Labour.
Elsewhere, Scotland first minister and SNP leader John Swinney said voters wanted to bring an end to the “chaotic” Tory government as he launched his party’s campaign at an event in Glasgow.
“I am here to give everything I have, to secure the best future for our country,” the new party leader said.
“That process starts with listening. And this is what most people in Scotland are telling us: They want rid of this disastrous, chaotic Tory government.”
