What next? Here’s what Corbyn thinks
Will there now be a wider electoral challenge?
Jeremy Corbyn spoke at the SWP Marxism Festival on Saturday
By Isabel Ringrose
Saturday 06 July 2024
Will there now be a wider electoral challenge?
Jeremy Corbyn spoke at the SWP Marxism Festival on Saturday
By Isabel Ringrose
Saturday 06 July 2024
SOCIALIST WORKER Issue 2912
Jeremy Corbyn, the newly elected independent MP for Islington North, said he is ready to confront Keir Starmer’s government.
“Of course we’ll be holding the new government to account,” he told Socialist Worker. “That’s what we’re going to be doing. We’re making great strides already,” he added, referring to himself and the other Independent candidates elected to Westminster. “We’re talking to each other already.”
Corbyn compared Labour’s 9.6 million votes this time to the vote when he was the party leader. “The Labour vote was lower in this election than it was in 2017 and 2019,” he explained.
“I was asked to condemn myself for losing in 2019 by one of the media this morning. I happily condemned myself but pointed out that I got more votes than the current government.”
Corbyn’s Labour votes reached 10.2 million in 2017 and 12.8 million in 2019.
“Now others must take responsibility too. Labour needs to think very carefully about its result,” he said. “Yes, there’s a huge number of Labour MPs. That’s fine, great. But the vote was down, the percentage growth for Labour support was around 1.5 percent.”
Corbyn won his seat of over 40 years with 49 percent of the vote—almost 15 percent more than the Labour candidate.
He said the Labour Party lost support in the election “because of Gaza”. “The Independents and myself were elected over this, and in many other constituencies, Gaza ceasefire Independents did very well.
“Andrew Feinstein and Leanne Mohamad for instance got very good votes, and they almost won. There’s some very significant things there.”
But, Corbyn warned, “There’s also the worry of the far right. We have to oppose the whole agenda of Nigel Farage and the dangerous populism of targeting refugees as the cause of all our problems.
“They’re not the cause of our problems. The real problem is the greed and inequality of society. We have to point that out and it’s partly an education exercise.”
Corbyn’s win in the north London constituency neighbouring Starmer’s is a blow and a warning to the new prime minister.
Starmer may have hounded Corbyn, his legacy and the left out of Labour, but the victory for Corbyn and the Independent MPs is important. There will be discussions about future electoral challenges. But the most crucial element will be events such as the Palestine demonstration that Corbyn joined and spoke at on Saturday and strikes and militant protests.
Jeremy Corbyn, the newly elected independent MP for Islington North, said he is ready to confront Keir Starmer’s government.
“Of course we’ll be holding the new government to account,” he told Socialist Worker. “That’s what we’re going to be doing. We’re making great strides already,” he added, referring to himself and the other Independent candidates elected to Westminster. “We’re talking to each other already.”
Corbyn compared Labour’s 9.6 million votes this time to the vote when he was the party leader. “The Labour vote was lower in this election than it was in 2017 and 2019,” he explained.
“I was asked to condemn myself for losing in 2019 by one of the media this morning. I happily condemned myself but pointed out that I got more votes than the current government.”
Corbyn’s Labour votes reached 10.2 million in 2017 and 12.8 million in 2019.
“Now others must take responsibility too. Labour needs to think very carefully about its result,” he said. “Yes, there’s a huge number of Labour MPs. That’s fine, great. But the vote was down, the percentage growth for Labour support was around 1.5 percent.”
Corbyn won his seat of over 40 years with 49 percent of the vote—almost 15 percent more than the Labour candidate.
He said the Labour Party lost support in the election “because of Gaza”. “The Independents and myself were elected over this, and in many other constituencies, Gaza ceasefire Independents did very well.
“Andrew Feinstein and Leanne Mohamad for instance got very good votes, and they almost won. There’s some very significant things there.”
But, Corbyn warned, “There’s also the worry of the far right. We have to oppose the whole agenda of Nigel Farage and the dangerous populism of targeting refugees as the cause of all our problems.
“They’re not the cause of our problems. The real problem is the greed and inequality of society. We have to point that out and it’s partly an education exercise.”
Corbyn’s win in the north London constituency neighbouring Starmer’s is a blow and a warning to the new prime minister.
Starmer may have hounded Corbyn, his legacy and the left out of Labour, but the victory for Corbyn and the Independent MPs is important. There will be discussions about future electoral challenges. But the most crucial element will be events such as the Palestine demonstration that Corbyn joined and spoke at on Saturday and strikes and militant protests.
'Islington North is the place to be. Go go go!'
6 July, 2024
LEFT FOOT FORWARD
One of the most closely watched and anticipated seats of the general election was Islington North, where the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was standing as an independent, after he was was ejected from the party due to a row over antisemitism. Scooping up almost half of the vote, Corbyn won the seat for the eleventh time. Labour’s candidate Praful Nargund finished almost 7,000 votes behind Corbyn, with 34.2 percent of the vote, compared to Corbyn’s 49.4 percent. The result ends the tradition in Islington North of voting for Labour since a by-election took place in 1937.
Under Britain’s electoral system, where a candidate or party is selected by achievement of a simple majority, running as an independent is always going to be challenging. But Corbyn’s election campaign rapidly mobilised among the left and within the North London constituency.
Addressing a crowd during the public campaign launch for “Jeremy Corbyn: An Independent Voice for All of Us” at the end of May, Ken Loach, film director and a staunch supporter of Corbyn, spoke of the importance of the North London seat.
“[Islington North] is the most important part of this election. If Jeremy wins, that shows our strength. If Jeremy wins, it shows we can put integrity and principle before shallow opportunism,” said Loach.
Corbyn’s win is testimony to the level of support he has in Islington North, where he has been the MP since 1983. “As an independent with first past the post, it was a bit of a long shot, but Jeremy’s got a strong sway here. He’s loved here. Fair play to him,” said constituent Cameron McPheely.
Social media was quickly flooded with people sharing their views on the result, and a ‘Might move to Islington North’ hashtag started trending.
“Might just pack up and move to Islington North just so I can vote for Jeremy every five years,” wrote journalist Hamza.
“Islington North is the place to be. Go go go!” posted X user James Foster.
“If I lived in Islington North, I would vote for Jeremy Corbyn,” wrote Jeremy Hicks, a grassroots left supporter, and former Unite general secretary candidate.
Speaking to Sky News on the night of the election, John McDonnell, who was shadow chancellor when Corbyn was leader of the party, said that if his friend Jeremy Corbyn is elected, he will be arguing for him to be restored with the Labour whip, similar to what happened with Nye Bevan. Bevan, the architect of the NHS, who was minister of health when the health service was founded in 1948, was expelled from the Labour Party for his fierce attacks on the official Labour line. He was reinstated by Clement Attlee when Labour returned to power after the war. Given Bevan’s reputation as a left-wing firebrand, his inclusion in Attlee’s cabinet came as a shock.
Momentum, the left-wing Labour grassroots movement that was founded shortly after Corbyn’s successful campaign to be Labour leader in 2015, shared similar calls as John McDonnell.
“The people of Islington North have spoken, and they want Jeremy Corbyn to be their MP. The decision by the Labour Leadership to prevent him from being a candidate was an appalling act of self-harm which has done untold damage to the Labour Party, particularly in Islington North. Keir Starmer must now do the decent thing and reinstate Jeremy as a Labour Party member and MP,” Momentum posted on X.
Image credit: Sophie J Brown – Creative Commons
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward
EDITOR; RIGHT WING WATCH
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