Sunday, May 26, 2024

Election campaign day 3: could Corbyn hold on?

On Friday it was announced that Jeremy Corbyn would stand as an independent in Islington North, the constituency he has represented since 1983. Having been evicted from the Parliamentary Labour Party, Starmer was in no mood to let his predecessor back in. Corbyn was the centre of a personality cult up until he led Labour to its worst election performance since 1935. 

MPs who stand against their former party tend to go down to defeat at the subsequent general election. Is Corbyn likely to suffer the same fate? I have no time for Corbyn's politics and he was a disaster that boosted the Tories and ensured they had a significant majority in 2019. But he has a significant following in his constituency. I believe he got the largest vote of any candidate in 2019 and over half the electorate in Islington North voted for him. Despite his politics, he has been a hard working constituency MP and that must put him in a good position to hold on. So Islington North may be one of the ones to watch.

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