Jeremy Corbyn has represented Islington North for 40 years

JEREMY Corbyn has ended the polls speculation and told residents in Islington North that he will stand at the general election on July 4 as an independent candidate.

He confirms his intentions in an exclusive article in today’s (Friday’s) Islington Tribune. His announcement comes after prime minister Rishi Sunak this week fired the starting gun on a six-week race for votes – a move which has forced the Labour Party to find a candidate for the constituency and for Mr Corbyn to reveal his plans.

The MP who has represented Islington North for 40 years had criticised Labour’s selection process to find a new contender after the party blocked him from taking part and stopped local organisers from having the chance to say who they really wanted.

He said his decision to stand was underpinned by a belief in democracy, adding in his article for the Tribune: “Local Labour Party members in Islington North have been prevented from choosing their own candidate, which has disempowered everyone in the community. I am appalled at the way local people have been treated. “We have to stand up and defend our rights. That is why I am standing to be an independent candidate for the people of Islington North.”

As detailed in this week’s issue, card-carriers have been left with a shortlist of just Islington councillor Praful Nargund and London Assembly member Sem Moema to pick a new candidate from.

In light of this, Mr Corbyn said he hoped long-time Labour supporters would understand his decision to take the party on as an independent. “I am here to represent the people of Islington North on exactly the same prin­ciples that I’ve stood by my whole life: social justice, human rights and peace,” he said.

The former leader of the party further outlined the policies and ideals that would remain constant in his campaign: a more equal society, housing justice, a greener Islington, a fully-public and fully-funded NHS, and a humane asylum system.

“The future is no pipedream,” he said. “Our community is proof that a kinder world is possible.”

Members in Islington were told they would not have a say on the final shortlist

Mr Corbyn has been Islington North’s MP for four decades, but was blocked from standing as a Labour candidate last year after his successor as leader, Sir Keir Starmer, led a National Executive Committee (NEC) motion against him.

At the time, Mr Corbyn was sitting in the House of Commons as an independent MP having lost the Labour whip in 2020 following his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s inquiry into how complaints of anti-Semitism in the party were handled.

Mr Corbyn had said “one anti-Semite is one too many, but the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media”.

Mr Starmer said this comment played down the problem. Mr Starmer had himself commissioned a separate inquiry into the issue, led by Martin Forde KC.

The silk’s findings said: “Some anti-Corbyn elements of the party seized on antisemitism as a way to attack Jeremy Corbyn, and his supporters saw it simply as an attack on the leader and his faction – with both ‘sides’ thus weaponising the issue and failing to recognise the seriousness of antisemitism.”

There remains affection among some of Islington’s Labour councillors for Mr Corbyn – including some who have said privately that they could not countenance applying for the vacancy while there was a prospect of Mr Corbyn also being on the ballot paper as an independent. Even though he had seen the whip removed by the time of the 2022 council elections, he was on the stage as the group launched its local manifesto.

Mr Corbyn, who has also released a campaign video explaining his decision today (Friday), wrote in his article for Tribune readers: “When I was first elected, I made a promise to stand by my constituents no matter what.”