Jeremy Corbyn re-elected in Islington North after expulsion from Labour
The recent election has seen Jeremy Corbyn emerge victorious in Islington North, a constituency he has proudly served since 1983. This time around, he has been elected as an independent Member of Parliament for the first time.
The person who used to lead the opposition defeated Praful Nargund, a Labour council member chosen by the party's committee as their candidate in May. Corbyn received 24,120 votes, while Nargund got 16,873 votes. The number of people voting in the election was 67.5%, which was lower than the 71.6% in 2019.
Corbyn, who is 75 years old, was not allowed to run as a Labour candidate in March 2023 by Keir Starmer. However, he declared shortly after the election was announced that he would be running as an independent candidate, which resulted in his removal from the Labour party.
In October 2020, Corbyn was banned from the party and stripped of his parliamentary privileges after he claimed that accusations of antisemitism within Labour were greatly exaggerated for political gain. This came after a scathing report from the equality watchdog.
After 19 days, he was allowed back into the party, but Starmer's decision not to restore his privileges meant he remained an independent MP until the next general election.
Corbyn's campaign was challenged by the deep connection between him and the Labour party, as some voters in his north London area were not aware that he was not running as the party's candidate in the election. Even though he did not have access to Labour's voter data or resources, Corbyn's campaign was able to rely on the help of volunteers from all over the country who came to assist with knocking on doors.
Just a week ago, 72 members of the constituency Labour party put their names on a letter openly supporting Corbyn. They took a risk of being forced out of the party in order to speak out about their belief that local members were unfairly prevented from selecting their preferred candidate.
Corbyn's win marks the first time Islington North has not voted for Labour since the 1937 byelection.
