Andrew Dismore, Labour’s former Hendon MP, has said he will not stand in the constituency in June’s general election for “personal reasons”.
Mr Dismore was first elected as MP in 1997, but lost his seat to Conservative Matthew Offord in 2010 by just 106 votes.
His bid to regain the seat – which has the second largest proportion of Jewish voters in the country – in 2015 ended in a second defeat to Mr Offord, by 3,724 votes.
Mr Dismore, currently a Greater London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden, said he was not in a position to give “100 per cent commitment” to this year’s campaign.
He said: “It is with regret that I have taken the extremely difficult decision that I will not be seeking your nomination as your parliamentary candidate in this election.
“This is for personal reasons only and not a decision based on politics. The election has also come at a time when I am not in a position to give the 100 per cent commitment to the campaign that I know is required and which you are entitled to expect from your candidate.
“Rest assured I remain your London Assembly member and will of course continue to serve you and the people of Barnet and Camden in that capacity to the best of my ability.”
Ahead of the previous general election, Mr Dismore said he feared Jewish constituents might be averse to voting for Labour after the party’s then leader Ed Miliband criticised Israeli policy during the Gaza war.
