Jeremy Corbyn has won Islington North, the constituency he has represented since 1983 – but for the first time has been elected as an independent MP. The former leader of the opposition beat Praful Nargund, a local Labour councillor selected by the party’s executive committee as its candidate in May. Corbyn won 24,120 votes, with Nargund securing 16,873 votes. Turnout for the election was 67.5%, down from 71.6% in 2019. In his victory speech, Corbyn said he had fought a “positive campaign”. The political system must produce answers for social problems, he said, adding that demonising asylum seekers was not the answer. He said he was proud of his constituency for standing up for a “kinder, gentler, more inclusive politics”. Corbyn added: “I couldn’t be more proud of my constituency than I am tonight and proud of our team that brought this result. Thank you very much Islington North for the result we have achieved tonight.” The announcement of Nargund’s result in the election was interrupted by a heckler saying “unlucky mate”, with one Labour supporter responding: “What’s wrong with you?” Corbyn, 75, told reporters it had been a “very interesting night in the political history of this country” and he was “looking forward to being part of that history”.
Asked whether Keir Starmer would make a good prime minister, Corbyn said: “Well, let’s see what happens. He will become prime minister, he will have a very large majority in parliament, he has put forward a manifesto that is thin to put it mildly and doesn’t offer a serious economic alternative to what the Conservative government is doing. And so the demands on him are going to be huge, the demands from the people are going to be huge. “If you don’t give yourself space, to increase spending on the desperate social needs, I mentioned the two-child policy, but there are plenty of others, then I think there are going to be political problems. He must have known this when he agreed this manifesto which is a bit of a straitjacket around any proposals he may want to push forward.” He added: “If the government ends the two-child benefit cap for example, hallelujah! I will be delighted. But if they don’t, I’ll be there, saying: why haven’t you done it? If they bring in rent controls in the private sector, well done. If they don’t, I’ll be there. Because this is a vote to show that people do want a true and independent voice in parliament to speak up for social justice.” Corbyn was blocked from standing as a Labour candidate in March 2023 by Keir Starmer, but announced soon after the election was called that he would be standing as an independent, leading to his expulsion from Labour. In October 2020, Corbyn was suspended from the party and lost the parliamentary whip after describing antisemitism in Labour as “dramatically overstated for political reasons” in response to a critical report from the equality watchdog. After 19 days, he was readmitted to the party, but Starmer’s refusal to reinstate the whip meant he continued to sit as an independent MP until the general election was called. Corbyn’s campaign faced the difficulty of overcoming the long association between him and the Labour party, with many voters in his north London constituency seemingly unaware he was not the party’s candidate in the election. Facing an uphill battle without Labour’s canvassing data or infrastructure, Corbyn’s campaign relied on volunteers from across the UK coming to support door-knocking efforts. His victory ends a tradition of Islington North voting for Labour since a 1937 byelection.