Jeremy Corbyn set to stand as independent against Labour at general election
Jeremy Corbyn is set to stand against Labour as an independent candidate in Islington North at the general election.
Mr Corbyn, the former Labour leader who was suspended from the parliamentary party following a row over antisemitism, is expected to announce he will contest the north London seat he has held for more than 40 years, the Daily Telegraph has reported.The move will come as a headache to Sir Keir Starmer, who has banned his predecessor from standing for Labour.
That came after he failed to apologise for his handling of antisemitism within the party.
Afterwards, Mr Corbyn said he had “no intention of stopping” fighting for his constituents in the seat he has represented since 1983.
Mr Corbyn has sat as an independent MP since 2020, after Sir Keir suspended him from Labour after he said the scale of antisemitism within Labour had been “dramatically overstated” by the party’s opponents.
Labour has not yet selected a candidate to run in Islington North, where Mr Corbyn secured a huge majority of 26,188 at the 2019 general election.
The size of Mr Corbyn’s majority makes Islington North one of the safest Labour seats in the country and friends of the former leader believe he can win again.
Labour has shortlisted Sem Moema, a member of the London Assembly, and Praful Nargund, an Islington councillor, in the contest to be the party's election candidate in the seat.
Former BBC journalist Paul Mason was among those who failed to make the final shortlist.
Labour has said the winner of the selection process is due to be announced on 1 June.
At the time of his suspension, Labour said Mr Corbyn had been suspended for "a failure to retract his words", but Mr Corbyn called the move "political".
Sir Keir has also been urged to let Corbyn ally Diane Abbott back into Labour’s ranks in Parliament after he welcomed Tory defector Natalie Elphicke.
Ms Abbott’s friend Baroness Shami Chakrabarti said that the Tories and Labour had both traditionally been “broad church” parties.
The former shadow Attorney General and ex-director of human rights group Liberty, said: “You measure the breadth of the church from one wall to the other.
“So what I would say is...if there is now a place for a changed Natalie Elphicke in the Parliamentary Labour Party, surely my friend Diane Abbott will have the whip restored quick smart.
“That is something I should be able to look forward to in this context of a broad church.”
Ms Elphicke, who criticised Labour’s policy on immigration and was condemned for remarks she made supporting her ex-husband after he was convicted of sexual assault, has said she will not stand at the election.
Ms Abbott was suspended from the parliamentary Labour party last April for appearing to diminish racism against Jewish people in a letter to the Observer.
She withdrew her remarks and apologised "for any anguish caused" but still remains suspended, meaning she cannot stand as a Labour candidate. More to follow on this breaking news story...