Jeremy Corbyn, the local MP in the seat for the past 39 years, is currently an independent MP who has been stripped of the Labor whip. He retains significant local support, but if he decides to stand as an independent at the next election, every Labor member in the seat will face a choice – campaign for the party’s candidate or campaign for Corbyn and risk expulsion. A number of Labor figures at the seat spoke to the Observer about today’s impasse but, in a sign of the tensions and paranoia the situation has created, they all spoke on condition of anonymity. “If the whip is not restored, people will be forced to make a decision about their support for Jeremy,” said a senior Corbyn-supporting party official. “There are quite a few people who will support Jeremy. Many people hold this view. Like many in the region, we are very disappointed and disappointed that the party has removed the whip. All this is completely unnecessary.” Corbyn was suspended from the Labor Party in 2020 after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report found “serious failures in the leadership of the Labor Party to tackle anti-Semitism”. Corbyn later said the scale of anti-Semitism had been “dramatically overstated”. He has since been readmitted to the party, but current leader Keir Starmer has refused to reinstate Labour’s whip. Starmer is being urged by some of his own backbenchers to oust Corbyn, given Rishi Sunak’s attack that Starmer once served under Corbyn and effectively campaigned to make him Prime Minister. But in reality, there is little incentive to address the situation anytime soon, and no decision on Corbyn’s status is expected imminently. Jeremy Corbyn at the Labor party conference in Brighton, 2021. Photo: Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto/Allstar Meanwhile, it has created a surreal atmosphere in the constituency. A group called Islington Friends of Jeremy Corbyn (IFJC) has been formed and has agreed to answer questions by email. “Individuals at IFJC would prefer not to be identified due to the current climate,” it said. “The IFJC is not affiliated with the Labor Party and we do not ask people campaigning to join the Labor Party. “Any scenario where Jeremy Corbyn is not the Labor candidate at the next election would be entirely the result of the actions of the Labor leadership. We hope they have the decency and common sense to do the right thing and restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn. It’s not too late to see sense and do the right thing.” While Corbyn has a loyal group of supporters, other Labor figures in the seat said there was a large and silent group that would have preferred a different candidate but felt unable to say so. “There’s a real cult of personality around him locally,” said one. “You’re talking about a group of about 20 to 25 people who are very protective of him and quite hostile to people who aren’t. So he has it. But it is a minority view. This has never been tried before. The choice of the candidate is decisive. If the party can get someone who has credibility locally to stand, it’s a winner.” The tensions mean good alternative candidates are giving the seat a wide berth. One potential candidate who said it would be a “dream seat” under other circumstances said the current impasse made it avoidable. “There’s no way I’m taking on Corbyn – I think he’ll split the Labor group,” they said. “I don’t touch it with a barge pole. It will be a great challenge for someone with the determination to fight for it. I still think it’s more likely that Labor would take the seat [if Corbyn runs as an independent].” Islington North is not the only subject of choice in London. Labor has disbanded the local selection committee in Kensington after allegations of anti-Semitism at the seat. He had already suspended the selection committee in Camberwell and Peckham, an extremely safe seat currently held by Harriet Harman, after a prominent candidate was left off the shortlist. However, Corbyn’s profile means Islington North will be closely watched. Party members say “the ball is in Corbyn’s court” and he knows what steps he needs to take to restore the whip. In a statement, Corbyn told the Observer: “I was elected as a Labor MP and proud of it. I am honored to be a full-time representative of Islington North and to deal with all the issues facing our communities. The whip was removed by mistake and must be restored. Thousands of people in Islington North agree, as I am repeatedly told personally. I was actually told that when I was talking about the Labor party in the local elections.” Another veteran of Islington North politics said that while there were huge political divisions, that had always been the case. “People are very kind, even though the politics are 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.”
