Former London mayor Ken Livingstone has become the honorary president of a group that considers allegations of Labour antisemitism to be a “smear campaign”.

The Labour Against The Witchhunt (LAW) group revealed the appointment in an announcement on its Facebook page on Saturday.

“We are pleased to say Ken Livingstone has just become honorary president of Labour Against the Witchhunt,” the short statement said, accompanied by a call for followers to become paid members of the group.

LAW’s members include several Labour activists who have been suspended or expelled, including Tony Greenstein and Jackie Walker.

Mr Livingstone resigned from the Labour Party last May. He had been suspended since 2016 pending an investigation into his remarks about Adolf Hitler and Zionism.

The JC revealed two months ago that the LAW had lost the venue for its first annual conference at the last minute, following a backlash from Jewish campaigners.

The Askew Road Church in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, withdrew its offer to host its first-ever conference after members of Left Wing Zionists for Labour raised concerns.

In an email, the church said: “As a result of your email and our subsequent investigation into this booking we have now cancelled the conference at Askew Road.

“We can also assure you that we will never accept such a booking in the future.

“I can only apologise to you for our lack of understanding of what views LAW represents when we accepted this booking.”