Former Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn to run as impartial at General Election
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has announced he will run as independent candidate at the General Election in July.
The move comes as Labour shortlisted candidates to replace Mr Corbyn in Islington North after he was formally blocked last year from standing as a party candidate for the first time since 1983. The decision by Mr Corbyn – who remains a Labour Party member – to run against a Labour candidate in the London seat risks him being expelled from the party.
The veteran left-winger vowed to be “an independent voice for equality”. He said: “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.”
In a dig at his successor Keir Starmer, Mr Corbyn said he would defend a “genuine alternative to the corrupt years of this Tory government”. He said he would fight for rent controls and the abolition of the controversial two-child benefit limit – a policy which has caused deep divisions in Labour.
He added: “When I was first elected, I made a promise to stand by my constituents no matter what. In Islington North, we keep our promises.”
Labour’s governing body – the National Executive Committee (NEC) – approved a motion proposed by Mr Starmer last year not to endorse his predecessor by 22 votes to 12. Mr Starmer said at the time: “Jeremy Corbyn does not sit as a Labour MP and will not be a candidate at the next election for the Labour party.”
Mr Corbyn currently sits as an independent MP in the Commons after he had the whip suspended over his response to the damning Equalities and Human Rights Commission anti-Semitism report in 2020 which found Labour had broken equalities law.
Mr Starmer is also facing calls to reinstate the whip to Diane Abbott so she can stand for Labour at the general election. The veteran left-wing MP has been suspended since April 2023 over a letter she wrote about racism.
If the party fails to restore the whip she will be forced to either run as an independent candidate in Hackney North and Stoke Newington – a seat she has represented since 1987 – or step down from Parliament. A spokesman for the left-wing campaign group Momentum told The Mirror: “Keir Starmer rightly called Diane Abbott a ‘trailblazer’ as Britain’s first black woman MP.
“He should now reinstate her as a Labour MP and let her run as the Labour candidate in Hackney North & Stoke Newington, as local members voted. Anything less is an insult to Diane, her constituents and all those who have been inspired by her example.”
