no title - Brixton Buzz - Brixton Buzz

Bell Ribeiro-Addy is the first confirmed candidate in Labour’s 2025 Deputy Leadership contest, announcing on social media last night that she would stand to give members a genuine left choice.

Condemning the party’s “short and undemocratic” three-day nomination window, her announcement capped a week of sharp interventions on Gaza, poverty and protest rights.

She pressed ministers on police double standards in their treatment of Palestine Action protesters, following a weekend where a beleaguered force was overstretched by mass arrests, unable to process every detainee, and described by its own federation as “emotionally and physically exhausted.”

She also condemned the UK government’s “red carpet” welcome for Israel’s president Isaac Herzog ahead of this week’s visit — accusing him of having “cheered on the Gaza genocide” and demanding sanctions. All this came in a weekend where she reaffirmed her long-held opposition to the two-child benefit cap.

Ribeiro-Addy began her political career as Chief of Staff to Diane Abbott, now Mother of the House, before being appointed Shadow Immigration Minister under Jeremy Corbyn and later removed under Starmer.

The popular south Londoner has won in two general elections, first as MP for Streatham in 2019 and now as the first MP for the new Clapham & Brixton Hill constituency. Appointed trade envoy to Ghana in January 2025 then unceremoniously sacked in July for rebelling against government welfare cuts, her brief tenure reflects both Labour’s lurch to the right and the increasing space for leftist options on the ballot box.

While Ribeiro-Addy’s candidacy may not threaten Starmer, if she struggles to reach the increased threshold of 80 MP nominations, he may find himself confronted with a deeper problem: that every attempt to shut out the left risks driving voters towards movements outside the party.

Lambeth Green Party activists are in the throes of euphoria after electing a left-leaning leader in Zack Polanski, and this Friday sees the Brixton launch of Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s Your Party. The meeting will serve as a bellwether of local support, and if Starmer’s Labour succeeds across the board in shutting out the left, the question arises whether Lambeth figures like Ribeiro-Addy, Martin Abrams and others start to look at viable non-Labour alternatives in time for the next election.

More info:

Bell Ribeiro-Addy Website

Bell on Facebook

Bell on Insta