It is hard to find a more Labour-dominated part of the country than the London seat of Islington North. Yet should you ask Labour members which candidate they will be backing at the next election, there is nervousness, hesitation and hushed tones.
Jeremy Corbyn, the local MP in the seat for the last 39 years, is currently an independent MP having been stripped of the Labour party whip. He retains significant local support, but should he decide to run as an independent candidate at the next election, every Labour member in the seat will face a choice – campaign for the party’s candidate, or campaign for Corbyn and risk expulsion.
A series of Labour figures in the seat spoke to the Observer about the current impasse but, in a sign of the tensions and paranoia the situation has created, all spoke on condition of anonymity. “If the whip is not restored, people will be compelled to make a decision on their support for Jeremy,” said one senior party figure in the seat supportive of Corbyn.
“There are quite a few people who will support Jeremy. Many people have that view. Like many in the local area, we are very disappointed and crestfallen that the party has taken the whip away. All this is completely unnecessary.”
Corbyn was suspended from Labour in 2020 after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report that found “serious failings in the Labour party leadership in addressing antisemitism”. Corbyn later stated that the scale of antisemitism had been “dramatically overstated”. He has since been readmitted to the party, but current leader Keir Starmer has refused to restore the Labour whip.
Starmer is being urged by some of his frontbench to expel Corbyn, given Rishi Sunak’s attack that Starmer once served under Corbyn and effectively campaigned to make him prime minister. However, in reality, there is little incentive to deal with the situation any time soon and no decision on Corbyn’s status is expected imminently.
In the meantime, it has created a surreal atmosphere in the constituency. A group called Islington Friends of Jeremy Corbyn (IFJC) has formed and agreed to answer questions via email. “Individuals in IFJC would rather not be identified due to the current climate,” it said. “IFJC is not associated with the Labour party and we don’t ask people involved in the campaign about membership in the Labour party.
“Any scenario where Jeremy Corbyn is not the Labour candidate at the next election would be wholly the result of the actions of the Labour leadership. We hope that they have the decency and common sense to do what is right and to restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn. It’s not too late to see sense and to do the right thing.”
While Corbyn does have a loyal band of supporters, other Labour figures in the seat said there was a large and silent group that would prefer a different candidate but felt unable to say so. “There’s a real cult of personality around him locally,” one said. “You’re talking about a group of about probably 20 to 25 who are very protective of him and quite hostile to people who aren’t. So he does have that. But it is a minority view. That’s never been tested before. The candidate choice is crucial. If the party can persuade someone who has credibility locally to stand, it’s winnable.”
The tensions mean that good alternative candidates are giving the seat a wide berth. One potential candidate who said it would be a “dream seat” in other circumstances said the current impasse made it one to avoid.
“There’s no way I’d take on Corbyn – I think it’s going to split the Labour group,” they said. “I’m not touching it with a barge pole. It’s going to be quite a challenge for somebody with the determination to fight for it. I still think that the likelihood is that Labour would take the seat [if Corbyn runs as an independent].”
Islington North is not the only selection issue in London. Labour dissolved the local selection committee in Kensington after allegations of antisemitism in the seat. It had already suspended the selection panel in Camberwell and Peckham, an ultra-safe seat currently held by Harriet Harman, after a prominent candidate was left off the shortlist. Yet Corbyn’s profile means Islington North will be followed closely. Party insiders say the “ball is in Corbyn’s court” and that he knows what action he must take to have the whip restored.
In a statement, Corbyn told the Observer: “I was elected as a Labour MP and proud to be so. I am honoured to be the full-time representative of Islington North, and to tackle all the issues facing our communities. The whip was wrongly removed and it should be restored. Thousands of people in Islington North agree, as they repeatedly tell me in person. Indeed, they told me so when I was canvassing for the Labour party during the local elections.”
Another veteran of Islington North politics said that while there were huge political divisions, this has always been the case. “People are very polite, even though the politics is robust and ideologically divided,” he said. “People are intertwined in each other’s lives. I think in the end, everyone involved will turn a blind eye to how people campaign.”
